Consumer RightsExpense AccountPersonal FinanceUncategorizedAugust 12, 2014by Monika Halan0A hunt for PPF that leads to toxic sales pitches
Banks brazenly sell toxic insurance products to me as I request and seek a PPF.
Consumer RightsExpense AccountPersonal FinanceApril 29, 2014by Monika Halan0Non-advised retail financial products are usually toxic
An average middle class person needs to choose 10 financial products. To research each one will take him two lifetimes. That's why we need a seller-beware market place where advisors are responsible for sales.
Expense AccountPersonal FinanceUncategorizedFebruary 25, 2014by Monika Halan0Why the global insurance industry is wrong
Online sales is the way forward in financial products. But watch the insurance industry fight it back. Why would they want a more transparent system?
Banks don't want to turn brokers of insurance products in India as it will make them responsible for what they sell. Not something they want to do!
Expense AccountNovember 26, 2013by Monika Halan1RBI: Just good intent isn’t enough to treat customers fairly
RBI needs to go beyond theory to implement Treating Consumers Fairly in practice. It is a regulator behind the curve.
Consumer RightsPersonal FinanceNovember 12, 2013by Monika Halan0Sebi gives RBI a chance to clean up mis-selling by banks
Regulatory turf wars hurt consumers of finance. Mis-selling mutual funds by HSBC Bank fell in the cracks between RBI and Sebi.
Expense Account, Mint When I met the head of one of the largest private sector life insurance companies last week in Mumbai, he was clear that the 1 October 2013 deadline to re-engineer the traditional (money-back, endowment, whole life) plans in life insurance would at most be breached by two weeks to a month. (Market-linked...
Expense AccountFebruary 13, 2013by Monika Halan0How to steal a trillion
Expense Account, Mint When one lives in a country of over a billion people, big numbers seldom come as a surprise. But when I looked at the number of Rs.1.5 trillion, I was astounded. That’s about 1.5% of the Indian gross domestic product, was the first thought. But the number in the excel sheet looked back...
Expense AccountJuly 11, 2012by Monika Halan0Irda opens the door to getting banks to focus on mis-selling
Expense Account, Mint The increasing confidence of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) showed two weeks ago when it slapped a fine of Rs 1.47 crore on HDFC Standard Life for some five violations out of a list of 25 charges. Indian regulators are not known to levy large sums as fines. Probably the...
Expense Account, Mint How long have you driven your car? How long has that toaster lasted? I’d assume that unless you bought some untested Chinese brand that is built to self-destruct on one use, they’ve lasted a reasonable time and you’ve not had reason to take them back to the store. And assuming you bought...