India's finance and corporate affairs minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the doorstep banking service of state-run banks, which is expected to benefit a large number of customers of these entities, including senior citizens and divyangs. Doorstep banking services is aimed at providing convenience of banking services to the customers through the universal touch points of a call centre, web portal or mobile app. Customers can also track their service request through these channels. The services shall be rendered by the Doorstep Banking Agents deployed by the selected Service Providers at 100 centres across the country, a finance ministry statement said. At present only non-financial services such as picking up of cheques, demand draft, pay order are available to customers. Financial services shall be made available from October 2020. The services can be availed by customers of PSBs at nominal charges, the statement said.
Zomato plans IPO in 2021
Online restaurant discovery platform Zomato has started preparations to go for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2021, making it the first among India’s most valued consumer internet companies, or unicorns (valued at over $1 billion each) to plan a market debut. The 12-year-old company, co-founded by IIT-Delhi engineer and former Bain consultant Deepinder Goyal, is planning its listing in India, said sources familiar with the matter. In the run-up to its public offering, the Gurgaon-based company is also in the process of closing a $30-million share sale for its former employees, which will be one of the most significant ESOP liquidity events in India. Zomato is in the process of raising its pre-IPO round of $600 million, as a part of which it raised $100 million from Tiger Global. Before that, it raised close to $150 million from Singapore’s Temasek, China’s Ant Financial and UK-based Baillie Gifford. The company’s valuation is expected to cross $3.5 billion with the new round, if it closes.
Citi’s Fraser first woman to head big Wall St bank
Citigroup, the third-largest bank in the US, said that Jane Fraser will become its first woman chief executive in February. Fraser, the bank’s president and head of its global consumer banking business, will succeed Michael Corbat, who has served as chief executive since 2012. Fraser was teed up as the bank’s next leader last year, when she was promoted to her current role. "It’s frustrating that this moment has been so long in coming," said Rob Blackwell, the chief content officer for Promontory Interfinancial Network, which provides services for banks. "This is a big moment."
