The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has posted suggestion paper in the public domain for discussion, the idea of allowing customers of one bank to withdraw cash from ATMs of other banks free of charge from April 2009. It said that the current charges for cash withdrawals from third-party ATMs should be limited at Rs 20 per transaction, from March 31, 2008. It has also instructed to stop the existing charges that are lower.
The RBI has to intervene because of the unwillingness shown by some larger banks to share their ATM networks with other banks and look for ways to allow bank customers free cash withdrawal across all ATMs.
According to the sources RBI’s aim to make cash withdrawals free for customers, at ATMs of banks with whom they do not maintain accounts, due to the reaction shown by State Bank of India and its associates banks of not joining the National Financial Switch (NFS), which is owned by the central bank.
“The idea is to create an all-India payment structure, which makes cash withdrawal at ATMs affordable for all sections of the population. State Bank of India’s reluctance to be part of the National Financial Switch is creating a hindrance of sorts in this process,” said a senior official from the banking industry.
According to a SBI official, the reason behind the country’s largest bank not joining the RBI-owned NFS network is that, this will result in it losing out on the competitive edge it has with their large ATM network. SBI has made huge investments to build the country’s largest ATM network, with a total of over 8,000 ATMs. The country’s largest bank, whose high net worth customers are being targeted by private players, has decided to use its ATM network as a selling point.
According to senior officials from the banking industry the customers in India are paying excessive charges as compared to international practice, wherein customers only need to pay for using ATMs set up by non-bank players.
Banking sources added that if customers were to be allowed free withdrawal after 2009, then banks with a high customer transaction to ATM ratio would need to compensate those banks with large ATM network. If a bank does not wish to pay others, it would have to ramp up its own network.
“The interchange fee, which banks pay each other, will have to be retained, and since the central bank’s mandate of not passing it on to the customers can not be bypassed, it will have to be worked out amongst banks,” said a banker with a large public sector bank. Senior industry officials acknowledged that banks could discuss with each other on what is the appropriate inter-change fee they could charge from the customers depending upon a host of factors.
The factors such as the location, the number of ATMs which the other party is bringing into the fold and the volume of transactions could be taken into consideration. At present banks do pay interchange fees to other banks, whose ATMs their customers have an access to, still it is the customer who ultimately bears this cost. Usually, smaller banks enter bilateral arrangements with larger players or join ATM-sharing networks to offer their customers access to a larger network.
Some banks are already offering this service free of cost. But because they are having a smaller customer base and the volumes of such transactions are quite low, they might not be shelling out huge interchange charges to other banks.
At present, at the higher end, the customer is charged anywhere up to Rs 57 for each withdrawal from a third-party ATM, and up to Rs 20 for the balance inquiries. According to the central bank sources as there is no transparency in these charges, and that they vary from bank to bank is a major restriction for customers to use other banks’ ATMs.
According to the sources it is almost impractical to have a uniform structure for this interchange fees which banks need to shell out in the event of transactions being made free to customers. This would be purely a joint arrangement, which depends on the two banks which are involved in the picture.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Card-based remittance service by FINO
The microfinance institutions will be able to conduct remittance business which used to be conducted by post offices and major banks in India.
A new card-based remittance service has been introduced by a multi-bank promoted institution for microfinance, Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd (FINO this service would initially be provided to clients of the 121 microfinance institutions (MFIs) engaged with FINO.
“With a migrant population of 30.7 crore, domestic remittances contribute Rs 40,000-60,000 crore, while international remittance stands at Rs 1 trillion (one lakh crore) on annual basis,” said Rishi Gupta, CFO and president of sales and marketing with FINO.
Banks get more than 10% of commission on remittances whereas post office get 5%.
“We see a market worth Rs 3,000 crore as commission on remittances. Post offices do not accept money orders above Rs 5,000, while banks do not have a reach to the rural masses. With a direct access to the rural areas, we are better placed for remittances,” said Gupta.
With the introduction of card-based remittance service the person wanting to send money to his beneficiaries will have a choice, can do so via a smart card or cash. Another smart card will be available with the beneficiaries of the emigrant. “The person based in the rural area can withdraw money through the microfinance institutions’ agent who has the card reader,” said Manish Khera, CEO of FINO.
FINO will be launching kiosks which are similar to automated teller machines (ATM) called micro-deposit machines, having an in-built finger-print reader. With the launch of this machine the smart card will find another use. For commercial use the machine will be available by June 2008.
“These machines would be located at the residence of the MFIs’ agents, who cater to rural and urban poor,” Gupta said.
The micro-deposit machines do not permit direct cash withdrawal as ATMs do. In this machine one has to enter the amount to be withdrawn and collect the receipt. The receipt then has to be given to the agent, who in turn provides the cash to the smart cardholder.
“We have observed that 90% people deposit money while very few withdraw. During the past year, amount deposited per transaction improved from Rs 50 to Rs 1, 000,” Gupta said.
In the next 3-5 years FINO will be installing 10,000-15,000 machines. “The cost of this machine is lower than an ATM machine. Various banks have shown interest in setting up these machines at their rural branches as they are cost-effective,” Gupta said.
With the installment of MDM the number of agents and the work of the agents will reduce. One MDM can replace four MFI agents thus saving a total of around Rs 6 lakh as agent, savings and loan commission. The project will be funded by IFC, while NCR will be manufacturing and developing the MDMs for FINO.
A new card-based remittance service has been introduced by a multi-bank promoted institution for microfinance, Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd (FINO this service would initially be provided to clients of the 121 microfinance institutions (MFIs) engaged with FINO.
“With a migrant population of 30.7 crore, domestic remittances contribute Rs 40,000-60,000 crore, while international remittance stands at Rs 1 trillion (one lakh crore) on annual basis,” said Rishi Gupta, CFO and president of sales and marketing with FINO.
Banks get more than 10% of commission on remittances whereas post office get 5%.
“We see a market worth Rs 3,000 crore as commission on remittances. Post offices do not accept money orders above Rs 5,000, while banks do not have a reach to the rural masses. With a direct access to the rural areas, we are better placed for remittances,” said Gupta.
With the introduction of card-based remittance service the person wanting to send money to his beneficiaries will have a choice, can do so via a smart card or cash. Another smart card will be available with the beneficiaries of the emigrant. “The person based in the rural area can withdraw money through the microfinance institutions’ agent who has the card reader,” said Manish Khera, CEO of FINO.
FINO will be launching kiosks which are similar to automated teller machines (ATM) called micro-deposit machines, having an in-built finger-print reader. With the launch of this machine the smart card will find another use. For commercial use the machine will be available by June 2008.
“These machines would be located at the residence of the MFIs’ agents, who cater to rural and urban poor,” Gupta said.
The micro-deposit machines do not permit direct cash withdrawal as ATMs do. In this machine one has to enter the amount to be withdrawn and collect the receipt. The receipt then has to be given to the agent, who in turn provides the cash to the smart cardholder.
“We have observed that 90% people deposit money while very few withdraw. During the past year, amount deposited per transaction improved from Rs 50 to Rs 1, 000,” Gupta said.
In the next 3-5 years FINO will be installing 10,000-15,000 machines. “The cost of this machine is lower than an ATM machine. Various banks have shown interest in setting up these machines at their rural branches as they are cost-effective,” Gupta said.
With the installment of MDM the number of agents and the work of the agents will reduce. One MDM can replace four MFI agents thus saving a total of around Rs 6 lakh as agent, savings and loan commission. The project will be funded by IFC, while NCR will be manufacturing and developing the MDMs for FINO.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Indian Banks have 1.03cr inactive accounts with Rs 1,000 cr is lying unclaimed
In the bank if the money is lying in accounts which has been inactive for over 10 years it is termed as unclaimed deposits. At present more than Rs 1,000 cr is lying unclaimed with banks in India in 1.03cr inactive accounts.
According to the latest figures as of December ’06, released by the Reserve Bank of India, Rs 1,018.8 crore is lying unclaimed in 1.03crore accounts with all bank groups. Bankers claim that the amount could be even higher this year as claims on such deposits hardly ever get settled in a short period.
It’s amazing that a big amount of money is lying in savings deposit accounts. It accounts for more than 75% (77.4 lakh) of the number of accounts and over 60% (Rs 629.94cr) in terms of value of unclaimed money. The build up interest on these deposits is Rs11.5crore. In fixed deposit the unclaimed amount is around Rs232 crore in 8.3lakh accounts.
Alone Public sector banks accounts for more than 90% ( Rs 941crore) of such deposits. Canara Bank with (Rs 178crore) is at the top of the list with accounting for more than a third of unclaimed deposits among public sector banks, followed by Punjab National Bank (Rs 128 crore) and State Bank of India (Rs 95 crore).
If the money is left unclaimed in the fixed deposits for more than 10 years or if money in savings account and current account is left unutilized for the same period of time then the money is transferred to the banks head office from a branch office.
The Reserve Bank yet, does not have any clear accounting policy on such deposits; they are shown as current and contingencies in their balance sheets. These resources prove to be useful at times of a boom in long-term credit demand. But, at the same time attract a cash reserve requirements (CRR) — parking a stipulated portion of bank deposits with the central bank — and entails an outgo when CRR is hiked.
According to the sources a decade ago RBI has issued a circular to the banks in which the central bank has asked the banks try to get in touch with the customer if an account is not operated for over a year. If in any case account holders fail to respond or communications bounces back, efforts should be made to locate the new address.
Only after 10 years, the account is not operated then only an account is classified unclaimed. According to the Bankers much of the money lying in unclaimed accounts is by individuals or Hindu Undivided Family accounts. It is in rare cases that the accounts own by businesses, corporates and trusts go unclaimed in time, they add. This is largely because may of these accounts belong to individuals who have been deceased without leaving a will.
At times the legal heirs are not aware about the accounts owned by their predecessors and often come to light many years later. Hence the things are, changing slowly with banks making nomination almost compulsory at the time of opening an account.
According to the latest figures as of December ’06, released by the Reserve Bank of India, Rs 1,018.8 crore is lying unclaimed in 1.03crore accounts with all bank groups. Bankers claim that the amount could be even higher this year as claims on such deposits hardly ever get settled in a short period.
It’s amazing that a big amount of money is lying in savings deposit accounts. It accounts for more than 75% (77.4 lakh) of the number of accounts and over 60% (Rs 629.94cr) in terms of value of unclaimed money. The build up interest on these deposits is Rs11.5crore. In fixed deposit the unclaimed amount is around Rs232 crore in 8.3lakh accounts.
Alone Public sector banks accounts for more than 90% ( Rs 941crore) of such deposits. Canara Bank with (Rs 178crore) is at the top of the list with accounting for more than a third of unclaimed deposits among public sector banks, followed by Punjab National Bank (Rs 128 crore) and State Bank of India (Rs 95 crore).
If the money is left unclaimed in the fixed deposits for more than 10 years or if money in savings account and current account is left unutilized for the same period of time then the money is transferred to the banks head office from a branch office.
The Reserve Bank yet, does not have any clear accounting policy on such deposits; they are shown as current and contingencies in their balance sheets. These resources prove to be useful at times of a boom in long-term credit demand. But, at the same time attract a cash reserve requirements (CRR) — parking a stipulated portion of bank deposits with the central bank — and entails an outgo when CRR is hiked.
According to the sources a decade ago RBI has issued a circular to the banks in which the central bank has asked the banks try to get in touch with the customer if an account is not operated for over a year. If in any case account holders fail to respond or communications bounces back, efforts should be made to locate the new address.
Only after 10 years, the account is not operated then only an account is classified unclaimed. According to the Bankers much of the money lying in unclaimed accounts is by individuals or Hindu Undivided Family accounts. It is in rare cases that the accounts own by businesses, corporates and trusts go unclaimed in time, they add. This is largely because may of these accounts belong to individuals who have been deceased without leaving a will.
At times the legal heirs are not aware about the accounts owned by their predecessors and often come to light many years later. Hence the things are, changing slowly with banks making nomination almost compulsory at the time of opening an account.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Banks offers innovative products to lure NRI into real estate
Currently there is a boom in the real estate market in the country so the industry players are trying to allure people by offering a slew of innovative products to people who are willing to pay the price. If the deal gets stuck on the right point then from real estate developers to real estate fund managers, from banks to housing finance companies it will be a party time for all.
According to sources behind those exhilarated times, some banks, with operations in India and outside, are offering innovative products to non-resident Indians (NRIs), which could turn tricky in case Indian real estate market falls into a trough.
This process in turn involves the foreign and Indian operations of the same bank, the NRI and his friends, relatives and associates based in India. To begin with, NRI, with the help of his friends and others, establishes an Indian company that could do business in the real estate sector. The bank in India gives some loan to the company to buy land in India.
However, the NRI keeps a fixed deposit with the wealth management division or private banking arm of the same bank’s overseas operation. Unofficially, the foreign branch of the bank, with FD in its record, gives guarantee for the loan given by the bank’s Indian operation to the company set up by the associates of the NRI. But the same is not officially shown as a guarantee in the records of the two branches involved.
But as per current FDI rules in real estate, on any residential project foreign money can be invested, on a land measuring 25 acres or more. For commercial properties, the minimum stipulated area should be 50,000 square metres.
But, market players say with the realty boom, NRIs are still finding tough to get land at market rate because whenever the seller gets to know foreign money is involved, they demand prices higher than the market rates. If the buyer wants to buy adjoining plots which should aggregate at least 25 acres the rates are increased further.
In such a situation, the the associates of NRI buys smaller plots of adjoining land to establish the company without raising the rates much or even raising suspicion of the sellers that an aggregation is on play or even foreign money is involved. Like this NRI is able to get the plots at market rate and once enough number of plots are bought, those are aggregated (to at least 25 acres) and the company then transfers the same to the NRI to comply with FDI rule. While the NRI pays back the bank in India, his FD kept in the bank overseas is also released at the same time.
According to sources behind those exhilarated times, some banks, with operations in India and outside, are offering innovative products to non-resident Indians (NRIs), which could turn tricky in case Indian real estate market falls into a trough.
This process in turn involves the foreign and Indian operations of the same bank, the NRI and his friends, relatives and associates based in India. To begin with, NRI, with the help of his friends and others, establishes an Indian company that could do business in the real estate sector. The bank in India gives some loan to the company to buy land in India.
However, the NRI keeps a fixed deposit with the wealth management division or private banking arm of the same bank’s overseas operation. Unofficially, the foreign branch of the bank, with FD in its record, gives guarantee for the loan given by the bank’s Indian operation to the company set up by the associates of the NRI. But the same is not officially shown as a guarantee in the records of the two branches involved.
But as per current FDI rules in real estate, on any residential project foreign money can be invested, on a land measuring 25 acres or more. For commercial properties, the minimum stipulated area should be 50,000 square metres.
But, market players say with the realty boom, NRIs are still finding tough to get land at market rate because whenever the seller gets to know foreign money is involved, they demand prices higher than the market rates. If the buyer wants to buy adjoining plots which should aggregate at least 25 acres the rates are increased further.
In such a situation, the the associates of NRI buys smaller plots of adjoining land to establish the company without raising the rates much or even raising suspicion of the sellers that an aggregation is on play or even foreign money is involved. Like this NRI is able to get the plots at market rate and once enough number of plots are bought, those are aggregated (to at least 25 acres) and the company then transfers the same to the NRI to comply with FDI rule. While the NRI pays back the bank in India, his FD kept in the bank overseas is also released at the same time.
Saraswat Bank takeover Nashik Peoples Co-operative Bank
Nashik Peoples Co-Operative Bank has shown an accumulated loss of Rs 40 crore. To save the bank from going in further loss the country’s largest co-operative bank, Saraswat Co-Operative Bank, has announced to acquire this bank.
This is the fifth acquisition by Saraswat bank in the past two years and with the acquisition of Nashik bank there will be 141 branches across the country.
Saraswat Bank director Eknath Thakur told the existing 12 extension counters are being converted into full-fledged branches; with this the number is expected to go up to 153.
In the next four years the bank has plans to buy two-three more banks. “We have a target to acquire 10 lakh more customers by 2011. For this, the bank will have to acquire a few more banks and we are in talks with 2-3 troubled banks,” Mr Thakur said.
In the next 10 years the bank has set a mark of achieving Rs 1 lakh crore business. There have been rumors that bank might convert into a private sector but the bank has denied the rumors and said its board has no plans to convert the bank into a private sector one in the near future. “We will be maintaining the co-operative status until we reach that size (of a private sector bank),” Mr Thakur said.
This is the fifth acquisition by Saraswat bank in the past two years and with the acquisition of Nashik bank there will be 141 branches across the country.
Saraswat Bank director Eknath Thakur told the existing 12 extension counters are being converted into full-fledged branches; with this the number is expected to go up to 153.
In the next four years the bank has plans to buy two-three more banks. “We have a target to acquire 10 lakh more customers by 2011. For this, the bank will have to acquire a few more banks and we are in talks with 2-3 troubled banks,” Mr Thakur said.
In the next 10 years the bank has set a mark of achieving Rs 1 lakh crore business. There have been rumors that bank might convert into a private sector but the bank has denied the rumors and said its board has no plans to convert the bank into a private sector one in the near future. “We will be maintaining the co-operative status until we reach that size (of a private sector bank),” Mr Thakur said.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Banks’ cash conditions further strain due to rise in call rates
The banks’ cash conditions come under the further strain due to ongoing festive season, an extended weekend, coupled with banks’ needs to meet reserve requirements. Earlier this month there was outflow of advance taxes and a hike in the cash reserve ratio announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in October, liquidity in the money market all these factors contributes to the tightening of the cash conditions.
Banks, which were depositing funds worth Rs 20,000-30,000 crore with the central bank on a daily basis in October, have now begun borrowing funds from the central bank through the repo window by parking surplus government securities held under the SLR basket.
In advance of a five-day extended weekend, banks have borrowed more than Rs 20,000 crore from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its daily repo window. The demand for cash usually rises during the festive and holiday season, call money rates have crossed the 8%-mark, reflecting a severe crisis in cash conditions as markets will be closed on Friday for Id and will also be closed on Tuesday for the Christmas celebration.
If the banks go for other alternative for borrowing money other than RBI is the inter-bank call money market. Call rates were found quoting at over 8%-levels in the morning. Whereas it is cheaper to borrow from RBI as it charges at 7.75% levels. But the banks with an excess SLR can borrow from RBI and the rest have to resort to the call and CBLO markets. According to traders, some banks did start lending in the call and CBLO markets, in an attempt to leverage high rates there. But with the declaration of the LAF results the rates on these markets dipped. Rates in the CBLO market went as low as 1%, while call rates touched the 4%-mark.
Given that this weekend was also a reporting fortnight; banks were also forced to borrow from the central bank because they had to maintain reserves to meet cash reserve ratio provisions. Axis Bank president of treasury Partha Mukherjee said, “The tightness in cash conditions has increased recently, mainly due to the advance tax payouts that took place last week. Earlier, the effect of such payouts would be neutralised within a couple of days, but now it takes a relatively longer duration. Also, the long weekend ahead is contributing to the tightness, with players building up positions. Call rates may not come down soon. As long as they are stable, the markets will be able to cope with the present rates.”
Looking at the bond market, gave way to some comfort in the lower inflation figures and eased by a few basis points. The bond market saw trading volumes of around Rs 4,000 crore. Of which, the benchmark paper saw trades of around Rs 1,300 crore.
A senior treasury manager at a bond house said, “The signs of a rally at the shorter end of the curve are getting more visible. Much of the trade on Thursday was concentrated in the 9-10 year segment, where yields dipped by around five basis points. Once cash conditions improve, these securities would be the most preferred lot.”
The capitulation on the 10-year benchmark bond, the 7.99% bond maturing in 2017, ended at 7.87%, a notch below the previous close of 7.88%. Liquidity conditions in the banking system are expected to prevail under pressure at least till the end of this year. Treasury managers are of opinion once the New Year begins, the situation may see some improvement. “This is on the back of the government beginning its spending exercise and some inflows on account of interest payments (worth around Rs 22,000 crore) on special deposit schemes (SDS) to superannuation funds,” said IDBI Gilts head-fixed income S Raghavan.
Banks, which were depositing funds worth Rs 20,000-30,000 crore with the central bank on a daily basis in October, have now begun borrowing funds from the central bank through the repo window by parking surplus government securities held under the SLR basket.
In advance of a five-day extended weekend, banks have borrowed more than Rs 20,000 crore from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its daily repo window. The demand for cash usually rises during the festive and holiday season, call money rates have crossed the 8%-mark, reflecting a severe crisis in cash conditions as markets will be closed on Friday for Id and will also be closed on Tuesday for the Christmas celebration.
If the banks go for other alternative for borrowing money other than RBI is the inter-bank call money market. Call rates were found quoting at over 8%-levels in the morning. Whereas it is cheaper to borrow from RBI as it charges at 7.75% levels. But the banks with an excess SLR can borrow from RBI and the rest have to resort to the call and CBLO markets. According to traders, some banks did start lending in the call and CBLO markets, in an attempt to leverage high rates there. But with the declaration of the LAF results the rates on these markets dipped. Rates in the CBLO market went as low as 1%, while call rates touched the 4%-mark.
Given that this weekend was also a reporting fortnight; banks were also forced to borrow from the central bank because they had to maintain reserves to meet cash reserve ratio provisions. Axis Bank president of treasury Partha Mukherjee said, “The tightness in cash conditions has increased recently, mainly due to the advance tax payouts that took place last week. Earlier, the effect of such payouts would be neutralised within a couple of days, but now it takes a relatively longer duration. Also, the long weekend ahead is contributing to the tightness, with players building up positions. Call rates may not come down soon. As long as they are stable, the markets will be able to cope with the present rates.”
Looking at the bond market, gave way to some comfort in the lower inflation figures and eased by a few basis points. The bond market saw trading volumes of around Rs 4,000 crore. Of which, the benchmark paper saw trades of around Rs 1,300 crore.
A senior treasury manager at a bond house said, “The signs of a rally at the shorter end of the curve are getting more visible. Much of the trade on Thursday was concentrated in the 9-10 year segment, where yields dipped by around five basis points. Once cash conditions improve, these securities would be the most preferred lot.”
The capitulation on the 10-year benchmark bond, the 7.99% bond maturing in 2017, ended at 7.87%, a notch below the previous close of 7.88%. Liquidity conditions in the banking system are expected to prevail under pressure at least till the end of this year. Treasury managers are of opinion once the New Year begins, the situation may see some improvement. “This is on the back of the government beginning its spending exercise and some inflows on account of interest payments (worth around Rs 22,000 crore) on special deposit schemes (SDS) to superannuation funds,” said IDBI Gilts head-fixed income S Raghavan.
Betfred and ESI Entertainment Systems Inc sign agreement for rapid bank transfer
ESI Entertainment Systems Inc. announced that its auxiliary, Citadel Commerce Corp. has signed an agreement with Betfred, one of the UK's most recognized gaming brand, According to the agreement it will provide real-time bank transfer solutions via myCitadel World Wide Wallet to help drive Betfred's expansion in the European online gaming market.
myCitadel World Wide Wallet is a personal web-based cash account from there consumers can fund directly from their bank account. Consumers can immediately use the funds to make purchases on a merchant's site or can transfer them to friends or relatives. myCitadel Wallet is simple and secure and currently accepts Bank Transfers, Visa, MasterCard, and Electronic Funds Transfers in many countries using local currencies.
Some of the European markets provide payment challenges to online merchants because consumers are ethnically more used to using of direct bank payments and credit card usage on the internet is low. Betfred will now provide its customers a cost effective means of making Rapid Bank Transfers via near real-time international bank transfers into their myCitadel Wallet. The customer just logs onto their bank account and it takes a few minutes to clear funds and shows in their myCitadel account. This provides Betfred's customers with the ability to fund their wallet to play and bet almost instantly.
Currently Betfred is providing a 200% deposit bonus, double the incentive which it normally gives to promote myCitadel to its customer base. In addition to this as of Sunday 9th December 2007, for every successful deposit a player makes into their Betfred Poker account using myCitadel, that player will be given a tournament entry token. This token can be used to register to play one of ten Betfred/myCitadel European Poker Tour (EPT) German Open Freeroll Qualifiers running between Sunday 16th December 2007 and Wednesday 16th January 2008.
Then top ten players from each of the ten qualifiers will be awarded a seat at the Betfred/myCitadel EPT German Open Final, scheduled to take place at Betfred Poker on Sunday 20th January 2008 at 18:45 GMT (19:45 CET).
The winner of the Betfred/myCitadel tournament will get an all expenses paid seat at the European Poker Tour German Open Main Event which is taking place at the Casino Hohensyburg in Dortmund, Germany between Tuesday 29th January and Saturday 2nd February 2008, the buy-in for which is (euro)8,000.
myCitadel is authorized as a large e-money issuer by the UK Financial Services Authority, and currently have consumer support from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Switzerland, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, and Slovenia, with additional countries constantly being added
myCitadel World Wide Wallet is a personal web-based cash account from there consumers can fund directly from their bank account. Consumers can immediately use the funds to make purchases on a merchant's site or can transfer them to friends or relatives. myCitadel Wallet is simple and secure and currently accepts Bank Transfers, Visa, MasterCard, and Electronic Funds Transfers in many countries using local currencies.
Some of the European markets provide payment challenges to online merchants because consumers are ethnically more used to using of direct bank payments and credit card usage on the internet is low. Betfred will now provide its customers a cost effective means of making Rapid Bank Transfers via near real-time international bank transfers into their myCitadel Wallet. The customer just logs onto their bank account and it takes a few minutes to clear funds and shows in their myCitadel account. This provides Betfred's customers with the ability to fund their wallet to play and bet almost instantly.
Currently Betfred is providing a 200% deposit bonus, double the incentive which it normally gives to promote myCitadel to its customer base. In addition to this as of Sunday 9th December 2007, for every successful deposit a player makes into their Betfred Poker account using myCitadel, that player will be given a tournament entry token. This token can be used to register to play one of ten Betfred/myCitadel European Poker Tour (EPT) German Open Freeroll Qualifiers running between Sunday 16th December 2007 and Wednesday 16th January 2008.
Then top ten players from each of the ten qualifiers will be awarded a seat at the Betfred/myCitadel EPT German Open Final, scheduled to take place at Betfred Poker on Sunday 20th January 2008 at 18:45 GMT (19:45 CET).
The winner of the Betfred/myCitadel tournament will get an all expenses paid seat at the European Poker Tour German Open Main Event which is taking place at the Casino Hohensyburg in Dortmund, Germany between Tuesday 29th January and Saturday 2nd February 2008, the buy-in for which is (euro)8,000.
myCitadel is authorized as a large e-money issuer by the UK Financial Services Authority, and currently have consumer support from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Switzerland, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, and Slovenia, with additional countries constantly being added
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