Personal loan lender, Karur Vysya Bank(KVB) has fixed a goal of reaching total business amounting to Rs 50,000 crore by the next fiscal, according to an official of the bank. The bank also plans to open 100 new branches and will shortly be applying for it, the official said further.

P T Kuppuswamy, MD and CEO of KVB said, “We will be applying to the RBI for 70-100 new branch licences in 2011-12″.

By this year-end the south based bank intends to have 375 branches functioning in the country. Also, the bank will be venturing into the north and western regions of the country, said Kuppuswamy.

The bank plans to reach business amounting to Rs 1,25,000 crore by 2016 which is also its centenary year. He added, “We plan to reach there gradually. In FY’11, we will touch Rs 42,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore by 2011-12″.

The bank plans to increase its current and savings account deposits (CASA) by 2% to 26% in this fiscal, he added.

* Coming Up: Producer prices mm Jul; 1230 GMT (Updates prices, adds Indian buying)

SINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Gold erased some of its early gains on Tuesday but held near its strongest level in more than a month on worries about global economic recovery, while jewellers were also happy to cash in on the high prices.

With weak economic growth around the world igniting talk of deflation, investors are likely to chase gold, U.S. Treasury and currencies seen as safe harbour such as the yen and Swiss franc. Other precious metals tracked gold higher.

Spot gold hit an intraday high of $1,225.10 an ounce before easing to $1,223.30 by 0524 GMT, steady from New York’s notional close. Gold rose as high as $1,227.15 on Monday, its highest since early July.

Dealers in Hong Kong and Singapore saw a mixture of buying from investors and selling from jewellery makers, with bullion prices already rebounding more than 5 percent since falling to a three-month low in late July.

There was light physical buying from top consumer India as demand is set to pick up for the busy festival season, starting with Raksha Bandhan on Aug. 24 and extending till Dhanteras in November, the single biggest gold-buying day.

“We can say buying from investors have pushed the market up.

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These schemes do tend to have a big influence if you are someone looking to buy something, which otherwise would be well beyond your reach! You buy their theory of ‘zero percent finance’ and pay installments which you strongly believe are interest free! But unfortunately you end up paying more than what you actually think you are!

There is a popular saying: “There is no such thing as a free lunch!” And Ramesh now fully endorses it ! But not long before he completely disagreed on this thanks to the zero percent finance schemes offered by some NBFCs (non banking finance companies) with which he had bought a couple of consumer durables for his home! He blindly believed that the zero percent finance schemes were in fact zero percent in reality until the time one of his wise friends enlightened him on how these schemes really work! Well, this is what he found out!

What are they?

Till a few years ago there were many such zero percent finance schemes doing the rounds and luring the unaware buyers like Ramesh into it! But thanks to the regulations of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) many banks have now stopped from offering such schemes for financing consumer durables. But sti

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A bank is eligible to demand additional security when property prices fall. Even if you are loyal on your EMI payments, this clause demands a security cover in addition to your loan amount and if a borrower fails to provide such a security then he/ she may be declared a defaulter by the lender.

Sameer Tiwari, a Pune based mechanical engineer, thought he had made a “prudent decision” by opting for a fixed rate EMI when he took his home loan five years ago from a reputed national bank.

Three years after the date of disbursement, Sameer received a letter, which said it was time for renewal of his loan and that the interest on his fixed home loan had been increased by 0.5 per cent. Though this did not mean a change in the actual EMI he paid, this would however reflect first on his loan tenure, which would be increased to accommodate the interest change. On checking with the bank, he learned that there was a clause in the agreement that said the fixed rate was only for a period of three years and not for the entire loan tenure!

This letter brought endless, sleepless nights to Sameer and his family now, they had to recalculate and replan all their income sources and planned expenses because the “fixed EMIs (Equated Monthly Instalments)” will increase!

What is a loan agreement?

A loan agreement is a ‘contract’ entered into between the borrower and the lender (banks and financial institutions) that regulates the terms of a loan. The loan ag

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