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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nandu who wrote (3706)	2/11/1999 10:00:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Anil:Yup,looks like time to set up a brokerage account over there,I did. I see heck of a lot of exciting companies and opportunities. BTW: What is opinion of HCL Infosystems,any good?

To: Nandu who wrote (3706)	2/12/1999 8:02:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Internet Banking- ICICI and IndusInd banks going 'iNUTs'. Anil: Here is some good new if you are interested in internet banking in India,I like it. 1)ICICI Web Site: icicibank.com 2)IndusInd Bank Ltd. indusind.com ============================= ICICI Bank is upgrading its Internet banking facility 'Infinity' to introduce online real-time banking in a phased manner. This will enable the customers to do the entire gamut of banking operations such as transfer of funds among their various accounts, third-party transfers and payment of utility bills by directly operating their accounts. ICICI Bank, which in October 1997 pioneered the introduction of Internet banking in the country, currently offers customers access to their accounts both for viewing and downloading statements, chequebook requisition and stop-payment instruction facility. They also have a secured mailbox for customers to help them correspond with the bank in a confidential manner. All these facilities are offline and allow customers to merely give instructions to the bank. According to Priya Nayak, manager, Infinity Centre, ICICI Bank, introduction of own account transfer would be the first step towards online Internet banking. This facility, which is expected to be launched any time now, would enable the customers to transfer funds between their own accounts, be it savings bank account or current account, she said. Unbreakable security features are a pre-requisite for online banking and ICICI Bank is working towards a foolproof system. 'Infinity' has a multi-layered architecture and is hosted on an in-house server. The security features include multiple firewalls, filtering routers, 128-bit encryption and digital certification to check the authenticity of the user. In fact, the bank has employed the services of professional hackers to test their security system. The bank is also planning to add utility bills payment, deposit and third party transfer instructions in the next three or four months. Initially, they will be offline and would be integrated with online system after testing. Internet banking facility of ICICI Bank has received a good response especially with non-resident Indians for whom it is the quickest and cheapest way of tracking their accounts in India. The monthly hits have crossed 55,000 and the bank claims that its NRI deposits, as a percentage of total deposits, has increased from 4 per cent to 10 per cent since the launch of the service. About 2,100 customers (as of November), from countries such as Namibia, Mozambique, Kazakhstan, US and UK apart from increasing number of software professionals in India are utilising the facility. IndusInd Bank, the other bank that is providing Internet banking facility, is also planning to go online next year. Its 1,600 Internet customers have access to their accounts through the bank's Web site. IDBI Bank is also looking at Internet banking closely. According to its Vice-President (Finance) Ramachandran Chellam, the bank is on the lookout for software that is secure and compatible with its existing system.

To: Nandu who wrote (3706)	2/14/1999 12:13:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12475

Satyam to set up Rs 1-billion internet gateway Anil: Damn I need to get some shares of this Satyam guys,I see these guys going places.You still holding yours? =============================== Satyam Infoway, India's first (private) Internet Service Provider (ISP), is planning to set up its own international gateway for internet access. The gateway is estimated to cost about Rs 100 crore. 'We are very clear that Satyam Infoway has to set up its own gateway. We are hoping to have the gateway ready in the next four to six months time,' R Ramaraj, Satyam Infoway's Managing Director said. 'The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to announce the guidelines for setting up private gateways this month. We will file for permission to set up our own gateway as soon as the guidelines are announced,' Ramaraj said. He said raising the required Rs 100 crore for the gateway was not an issue. 'A lot of venture capitalists have shown keen interest for a private placement of shares. Satyam Infoway's debt is almost zero and we could comfortably leverage this to raise the required funds,' he said. Satyam Infoway is also in discussions with other members of the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), to jointly set up a gateway. 'Talks among ISPAI members for joining hands to set up a gateway are on. However, Satyam has decided to set up its own gateway as well,' Ramaraj, who is also President of ISPAI, said. The proposed gateway will substantially increase Satyam Infoway's capacity to the internet and will also reduce Satyam Infoway's dependence on the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for bandwidth for internet access. Meanwhile, Satyam Infoway has initiated a bandwidth expansion exercise to improve the speed of access to its 15,000 subscribers. The company, which has 8 MB bandwidth, is planning to expand to 16 MB by March 1999. (Excerpted from Business Standard, 11 February 1999)