ICICI Pru Achieves Growth In The Rural Segment

ICICI Prudential Life established a considerable growth in the rural segment during 2007-08. During the period, the number of branches went up from 583 to 1,950 - 1,000 of them were rural branches in 12 States. ICICI Prudential Life has tied up with the Department of Post in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and with South Indian Bank in Kerala, the source said. The company has emerged as a market leader in the private segment, with a significant growth in the last two years. The company''s operations are spread across 1,665 cities in the country. The funds management stood at Rs 28, 578 crore, raised through its products in health, retirement and wealth creation. Over 7 million policies have been sold, securing an overall market share of 11.8 per cent. During 2007-08 the total premium income increased by 71 per cent and the renewal premium by 101 per cent, compared to the previous year. ICICI Prudential Life has rolled out new products - Hospital Care and Crises Cover - in its health segment along with second generation unit-linked insurance policies such as LifeStage (regular premium) and LifeStage Pension.

Uttarakhand Cancels MoU With ICICI Lombard Within Hrs

The Uttarakhand Government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ICICI Lombard for providing cover to farmers, but cancelled it on technical grounds within hours. Principal Secretary Rural Development Vibha Puri Das signed the MoU with ICICI Lombard for providing insurance cover to farmers in the presence of Cooperative Minister Bishan Singh Chufal. Under ''Narayan Krishak Kavach Yojna'', the family of farmers were to be given Rs 50,000 in the event of his death due to any unnatural cause like road accident. However, within hours of signing the MoU, Cooperative Minister Bishan Singh Chufal canceled it on technical grounds. Some points in the MoU were not clear, a press note said quoting Chufal. An inquiry will also be conducted to ascertain as to why competitive bids were not invited in this regard, Chufal said. Interestingly, the minister during the signing of MoU termed the scheme as very good for the farmers.

ICICI Venture Picks Up 15pc In City Co Arrow Webtex

NEW DELHI: Private equity firm ICICI Venture has acquired a 14.9% stake in Mumbai-based textile and real estate development firm Arrow Webtex via a preferential allotment. The deal is expected to be in the region of around Rs 130-140 crore. The transaction gives the private equity fund a stake slightly below the level, which mandates an open offer for public listed firms in India. Arrow Webtex is engaged in the business of woven and printed labels, elastic tapes, apart from various activities related to real estate, hospitality and gaming business via its subsidiaries.

ICICI Venture, which manages various private equity, real estate and mezzanine funds, has picked up around 2.03 crore shares via the allotment last week. This deal gave Pacific Corporate Services a 8.8% equity stake in Arrow Webtex. As of December 2007, the promoters held 71.94% stake in Arrow Webtex. The rest was with public and corporate bodies.

ICICI Pru Life Enters Rural With Micro Offices, Biometric Cards

Mangalore: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance seems to believe in a mix of biometric smart cards and micro offices to reach rural market. While the company is mulling to reach more rural customers through the set up of micro offices, it is also targeting at the government-sponsored e-initiatives in various States to increase the use of biometric cards in rural areas. Of the nearly 750 branches of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance in the country, nearly 250 are in rural areas. Called as micro offices, these 250 branches are located in Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal.

The company recently unveiled biometric smart cards for its rural customers in a few States. With these cards, the policy-holders can carry all policy details without any papers and store transaction details. A rural customer does not have to go to the branch located in a distant place. He can go to the nearest FINO (Financial Information Networks Operation) Fintech access points, where the customer can swipe the card, authenticate himself. This was unveiled around three months ago in some places in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. At present, around 50 FINO Fintech points are available for the transaction. To make better use of the biometric cards, the company is planning to take the benefit of government-sponsored e-initiatives like ''AP Online'' in Andhra Pradesh and e-mitra in Rajasthan.

ICICI Pru Forges Alliance With Dubai Firm

Mumbai: ICICI Prudential Life has forged an alliance with the Dubai-based UAE Exchange House to assist the non-resident Indian (NRI) customers of ICICI Prudential Life to access any of the 50 branches of UAE Exchange to make their first and renewal premia. ICICI Prudential has also entered into institutional tie-ups for cash management solutions with local organisations.

ICICI, SBI Apply For Singapore QFB Licence

Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank have applied to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a qualified full banking (QFB) licence. The regulator, in the meantime, is not expected to insist on a government guarantee from SBI for granting it approval to launch full-fledged banking operations in the South-East Asian country.

A QFB licence allows banks to access the retail market in Singapore. Under the approval, banks can set-up offices, automated teller machines (ATMs) and branches in 25 locations. Besides, banks can transact business in Singapore dollars. Under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore, MAS is prepared to offer three QFB licences to Indian banks that meet prudential criteria. According to the CECA, India had to give three Singapore banks free access to the Indian banking space. The CECA was implemented in 2005 and covers investment, trade in services and merchandise goods. Singapore banking major DBS Bank has two branches in India. The other two banks to be considered under the treaty are United Overseas Bank and Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had preferred to treat Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) as related entities as the Government of Singapore has a significant shareholding in the entities, restricting them from raising their holding in ICICI Bank.