Tag Archives: India

Shared Services Excellence Award-winner Interview Nicola Stokes, Anz

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SSON: How did you become involved with ANZs shared services program?

Nicola Stokes: I was appointed General Manager Shared Services in 2005. There was probably about two-thirds of the organization that exists today in place when I got there; the organization was all based in Melbourne at that stage. I think the most striking feature for me when I arrived was probably that the people didnt really understand why they were all put together in a shared service; each piece was run quite separately, and was very much a cost-driven service-delivery focus.

SSON: What functions are in place now?

NS: Basically as ANZ Shared Services exists now, we are responsible for HR Operations such as recruitment, remuneration, learning and development, pension/superannuation; Finance processes such as payroll, accounts payable, reconciliations, indirect taxes, information and reporting; Strategic Sourcing (IT and business services); and ANZ Environmental sustainability program and system. Weve expanded quite a lot over the last couple of years. We have a team of 400 now, half in Melbourne, and the other half are in India, in Bangalore with our captive center there. The clients are based in various geographies, Australia, New Zealand, India and SE Asia. The headcount for ANZ is about 35,000, and the 400 of us service all of them.

SSON: That does sound like a major expansion. So was this planned when you came in, or was it as a result of your own strategy formulated after your appointment?

NS: When I went in, you could just see the opportunity; I looked at ANZs strategy, where it was going with its five-year plan, and it was definitely based around having a very efficient and effective and high-quality infrastructure to support its planned expansion. ANZ had a captive center in Bangalore for nearly 18 years, and it was used for software development; my boss at the time – Mike Grime, managing director of Operations Technology and Shared Services (OTSS) understood we had a huge competitive advantage in India and we werent using it. So I looked at how we could use the captive for shared services and started to move the transactional elements of our service offering to Bangalore, with great success. We kept the roles that interacted with the client in the same country as the client a hub and spoke model. I also looked at overall cost, because obviously in all SSOs cost is an important factor, but we had quite a different way of approaching that I think. ANZs products are not the cheapest banking products on the market, but they are cost-effective, and so the question was, how could we match the cost-effective nature of shared services to meet that sort of customer delivery.

When I talk about customers I mean the customers of the bank; my clients are my internal customers, if you like. Sometimes when you use the term customer for your internal clients, you create a kind of master-servant relationship within the organization. That doesnt actually do any good, because in the end what were trying to do is all oriented around the end customers, which for us are the retail banking and institutional customers.

My strategy involved using the Heskett model of the service-profit chain, to help my own staff understand why they were all in a shared service: basically if you can deliver an excellent level of internal service, that will enable the front-line staff to deliver a similar level to customers. Indeed Hesketts model shows how front-line staff can ONLY deliver the level of service they receive on the inside of the organization. So that gave everybody a bit of vision as to how all the pieces fit together given everything we were responsible for was about the internal operations of the Bank. It also helped our clients understand what else we could do for them and what would or would not be effective. It was also important that we did not become the dumping ground for things the rest of the Bank did not want, so if a process/service was customer-facing or revenue-generating it did not belong in Shared Services. Then when we started to demonstrate this strategy/model to our clients, and to articulate our value proposition, thats when we started to grow and we started to take on more work for them, which was wonderful.

SSON: Does the SSO have any clients beyond ANZ or is it still all internal shared services?

NS: It is still all internal shared services.

SSON: Was there the plan eventually to sell services to other organizations?

NS: Its a really interesting question. Sourcing and partnerships are one of the strengths of what we developed, but a lot of shared services entities start to fail when they start to take on third-party work, because theyre going against the reason they were set up in the first place. What in my experience you need to do is draw a line in the sand – and then if you decide that now its about revenue generation, ANZ then becomes a client. There are many documented cases where this had been attempted and has been a failure as the shared service starts to believe it exists for its own revenue-generation – and the business we are in is banking. If this step is to be taken the most successful ventures I have seen are when the shared services is sold or JVd.

Part of the vision that we had for shared services was that we would enable the Banks growth whether organic growth or through acquisition. Shared services traditionally get involved after the acquisition has been decided, whereas what we believe is that because of the responsibility placed in our shared services organization we had financial stewardship of A$4bn we would become part of the decision-making process about what we would acquire because we would be able to demonstrate that we would enable the benefit delivery of the M&A by getting things up and running and integrated more quickly. So, my strategy was to ensure that shared services would move from a purely cost-focused, internal transaction operation to something that was a crucial part of the growth and development of the Bank through operational excellence and energetic and agile service delivery.

SSON: Before we move on to talking about your role as thought-leader for which youve been recognised, can you tell us a little more about the environmental sustainability department you mentioned?

NS: Absolutely. Its quite unusual within shared services. Part of ANZs strategy under the previous CEO was ensuring the bank became more environmentally sustainable; there was quite a big community and employee engagement plan, but the environmental sustainability area, our understanding of our consumption, was still in its infancy. We started with the basics: we designed and implemented an environmental management system, around creating baselines and understanding performance. If you look at the other pieces of shared services especially the procure-to-pay process and the responsibility for the supply chain, the processes and methodologies we used, we could control the type of things the Bank consumed.

Our next step was to further understand how we could become carbon-neutral. We started working on a strategy and education program, internally for bank employees and all the way through our supply chain. We started to only select environmentally sustainable products for the catalogue; we worked with current suppliers so they could get to a benchmark with us; and we stopped doing business with people new work if they didnt understand their own footprint. We taught our suppliers things and they taught us things.

And I was actually voted onto the United Nations Environment Program Finance Steering Committee, and went to Geneva representing ANZ. I was voted onto the committee by 80 of the banks globally who are members of the UNEP-FI. And our crowning glory was that in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index we, ANZ, became the number-one sustainable bank for 2007/08 – pipping WestPac at the post which wasnt the aim! But it was a wonderful outcome, and its now embedded in the way that the bank does business. We can now monitor everyones buying behaviour on an ongoing basis. It was quite a wonderful achievement: a lot of hard work – and a lot of scepticism – but one of the great examples of shared services being able to demonstrate that its value is much more than transactional or purely operational functions.

SSON: Thats a very impressive achievement. Congratulations.

NS: Thank you. Were very proud of it.

SSON: You deserve to be. Lets move on to your award. Why do you think you were honoured as Shared Services Thought Leader of the Year?

NS: Two things I think. Firstly the leadership program I put I place and secondly the strategy, business plan and implementation methodology I designed and used to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of shared services in ANZ.

The leadership program that I put in place was a three-year rolling program for all of the leaders in shared services – so not only the leaders in line management, but my direct reports and their direct reports functionally. And then we added people who hadnt worked in a bank, because they bring in all this other experience. Shared services is full of young people, so we picked out all the older people with experience in life, and knowledge, so the whole leadership forum could get that sort of balance.

We used a Human Synergistics tool called Life Style Inventory which is very well-known in this part of the world, and it talks about moving from passive-aggressive or defensive-aggressive styles to constructive styles, and their tools show that the constructive styles lead to increased share price and profitability. We ran that over the first year of the program, putting 38 people through this: we launched it for the whole 400 in Melbourne and Bangalore because when people see shift in their leaders they get concerned, they dont know whats going on – so we simply articulated what was going on. I employed a leadership coach and for six months the 38 each met with me every eight to twelve weeks and with the coach every four weeks, working through the program – so they sort of practised for six months and then went up to implement for the next six months.

Then Year 2 of the program was positive psychology: this is a way of thinking and discussing whats good in life, and doing more of it, rather than as most organizations operate – on deficit, grading performances on what you havent done or what youve done wrong. This research is quite phenomenal. Its run as a course at Harvard, and its the most attended course. [Martin] Seligman did a lot in relation to happiness, and what hes actually shown is that its not about being happy but being happier, and the effects on the physiology of the brain and what that does for individuals and therefore the organization. By rolling this program through, we got the biggest shift to constructive profile that Human Synergistics have ever seen in their history and theyre actually doing a profile on us, thats out in the next couple of months.

The Heskett service-profit chain model worked really well for us; Im not sure if it has to be that one in particular, but it has to be something that will bind all the people who work in shared services together. And then we had a robust business-planning methodology which we developed that other parts of the bank started to use, using end-to-end process management approach, and Lean and Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard and a lot of those basic tools that deliver an effective process but then free up the individuals in the process to think and be innovative for our clients. We automated end-to-end so we could use our ideas and our people to deliver a better service. You know, if our clients have a clunky process that takes their time away from managing existing and new clients the consequences are quite well documented.

The combination of these two elements ensured that we were moving up the value chain and would continue to do so.

SSON: You mentioned targets there; what were your personal targets? Did you set yourself specific benchmarks you wanted to surpass?

NS: I had a three-year plan for shared services. My targets were around employee engagement; financials; risk; process effectiveness and client/service delivery. This was all wrapped up into an overall measure of how many new products or services were we asked to take on for the Bank. Did my colleagues want to do business with my organization? This combination of qualitative and quantitative data was fundamental for our success and progress towards the achievement of our strategy and of course to help us stop doing work that was no longer valued by our clients.

SSON: What were the biggest obstacles you encountered?

NS: Its really interesting question and I feel the longer I think about it the more I come up with, but there are a few key ones. The first one is understanding that most business units want to control their own stuff – not wanting to give anything up. If you think about why that is, in most organizations roles are scoped and scaled and paid relative to the actual size of the job headcount is important in this equation – so by taking peoples staff were actually decreasing their own roles within the organization. So we began taking in pieces of work, saying just give that to us, well put it through our process and then well give it back to you, and you can just run it and they thought this was just wonderful. Eight times out of ten they never took it back, because they were still getting the credit or the kudos or whatever were all human beings for the outcome of the process running really effectively or the engagement running really well. And I think thats something that people all over the world running any form of shared service continue to challenge. We in shared services need to keep our focus on the benefits to the whole organization, not the benefits for our own SSO.

Another challenge is that when you take on other work all of a sudden the expectations change. So somebody thatd been running their own process and had a quality score and a time rating and error rating and complaints rating, when we came into the equation the expectation changed massively and our clients want a much higher quality rating for example. So thats where we introduced client councils, so we could say this is what were taking over and thats what it looks like now. This started as a plan over 12 months but we were able to make traction much more quickly, achieving targets over six to eight months. This approach only works with a lot of face-to-face interaction.

Another major change maybe not an obstacle but the transformational change through the leadership from being a reactive organization to being proactive, so not only doing what was asked, when the answer was always yes irrespective of what was possible or not, but actually coming up with thoughts and ideas for our clients because we understood their business just as well as they do.

SSON: Lets look at the future now. What are your plans? Youve moved on from ANZ

NS: Well I moved from Sydney down to Melbourne to take the role, and had a three-year timeframe in my mind. And thats what I did. I think Im where a lot of people get at a certain time in their lives I got very involved in the environment and community agendas, and Ive decided that I want to work in more community-focused organizations. What I believe is that the things that I do around consolidating internal activities and organization, reducing costs while keeping service levels high, and enabling access to products and services – I want to do within a more community-oriented organization, rather than in an organization where any monies I was involved in saving or producing go back to the shareholder only.

Ive got to this stage in my career that I want to do something with a bit more purpose to get me up in the morning! Ive had a ball, ANZ was wonderful, and I want to do something that takes that commercial acumen that we develop in corporates into working for an organization thats more community-oriented. Its a pretty huge step for me. Ive given myself six months, by the way, to see if they want me and if not Ill get back into corporate and will still really enjoy it! But Im really very excited by trying to make the change.

SSON: Please do let us know how you get on!

NS: I certainly will. You can do so much within an organization, its really amazing. You can really positively impact on a lot of other people in their daily lives whether inside or outside the organization. But well see how I do!

SSON: So lets wrap up. What advice could you give to an individual or a team embarking on shared services?

NS: If youre going to establish shared services you need to understand two concepts. The first one is: why, and who are the sponsors? What does an organization think it can get from shared services? And understanding if there have been any attempts in the past and what were the outcomes of those attempts. So thats a really important piece.

The second piece is a bit about understanding the organizations culture and life-cycle. So in a command-and-control, why would you attempt a shared service model?

The glue that keeps it all together is knowing what leadership model youre going to bring into the SSO. Your classic line manager is one thing, but you need influencing skills and negotiation skills at all levels. Shared services clients are always there, whereas in any other organisation I think the average interaction with your customers in financial services is around four times a year; so this understanding of the clients access is really crucial, and you need the best leadership for that. Finally, if you only focus on getting all of your transactions and processes and data perfect before you move up the value chain, youll never get there.

Credit Card – The Excellent Mode Of Payment

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The credit card has its own benefits during the time of making
payment against goods and services you purchased. The basic meaning of
such medium of transaction is that it is plastic shaped tiny card which a
company issues to a user in regard with making payment against services
purchased. The card is mostly used in making payment of the goods or
services that you purchase from a shopping mall or store where it is
accepted as a system of payment. The delight and easiness you experience
with which the transaction is facilitated fast is really what makes it
an awesome and incredible mode of payment for individuals. Along with
the whole world, India is also one of the countries where mounting
popularity of such mode of payment has made it a household name.

Believing that the credit card has its fast mounting
popularity in India, many companies offer different types of cards in
order to cater a wide range of needs of customers in the country. If you
are one of the prosecute customers who are looking for best credit
cards, it is must to choose all those options that can help you sort out
your needs in this aspect. Banks or companies that offer cards include
hdfc, icici, Citibank and State Bank of India. There are also some other
companies which offer such cards for the prospective customers. So
there is no dearth of such companies to obtain best credit card from.
All you need to do is to search a good lender.

If you are
interested to take hdfc credit card, you should better make a visit on
its website. Here, you will be welcomed a plethora of information and
details related to your needs which will eventually help you vaporize
your doubts regarding how to choose the best offer from the rest of all.
Moreover the bank has also uploaded recent information throwing much
light on the prospective advantages of its products. If new cards are to
be introduced, you will have information through press release of the
bank on its website. In essence, shopping for hdfc card is facilitated
easily, if you use the online mechanism.

To
make sure that you have chosen something good and compatible to your
needs, don’t forget to study the goodwill of your lender. Moreover it is
most important to peep into your actual needs regarding the card as
things might go awry eventually, if you end up choosing wrong one.

The Need And Importance Of General Insurance In India

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Any insurance except life insurance falls under the purview of General Insurance. Lets try to understand what actually is general insurance?

In this era of high uncertainty and spiralling inflation rate, the dangers posed to our prized possessions has reached new zeniths. Insurance therefore is becoming a necessity more than just a utility. Safeguarding your belongings accumulated through years of hard work is the right thing to do and this is where different type of insurance service provider plays a pivotal role.

The concept of taking money from Peter to pay Paul has a long precedent. In the case of general insurance, the money is taken from the owners who want to insure their stuff and then given to that participant who has suffered a loss due to any incident specifically covered by the insurance policy.

General insurance in India comprises of a wide array of insurance such as health insurance, fire insurance, errors and omissions insurance and their like. Or one can say that the thrust of general insurance is inclined toward business activities unlike life insurance. Business activities in todays web-connected globalised world are fraught with so many transactional uncertainties that it has become an utmost priority to safeguard the entire chain of activities. Right from procurement of raw materials from local or overseas
Vendors to manufacturing and later distribution of the finished products, the substance of value is for a considerable period of time in transit without the owner having a commanding control over its fate. A general insurance policy aims to fill the command vacuum by providing the mitigation of uncertainty that may occur. It promises the policy holder to cover the losses in lieu of a fixed amount of premium.

Unlike life insurance policies, general insurance policies are typically not for lifetime tenure. It usually last for a particular economic activity, for instance marine insurance. It concerns with providing insurance cover for a particular voyage. Similar is the case with fire insurance, it covers losses that may occur due to fire in the factory warehouse for a given period of time. It can therefore be asserted that, most if not all general insurance products are of annual nature.

Various insurance service providers operate in this zone. Although the crux of their services remains the same, many of them have insurance products that are spin-offs of one another. Hence, differentiating between general insurance products of the same category from two different service providers can be a daunting task. Not only has that, a few providers of general insurance in India offer various combinations of insurance service. As different people have needs that are not symmetrical, hence it becomes a necessity of insurance providers to cater to the demand. For instance, an owner of a manufacturing unit would ideally require both fire insurance and machinery breakdown insurance. Thus one may come across general insurance products in various combinations catering to the need ever-evolving business landscape.

Thus general insurance in India can be put on a must-have list for most people, business entities and entrepreneurs alike. It is a handy tool that goes a long way to bring certainty and peace of mind in life.

What Does Mobile Banking Mean For Retail Customers In India

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Mobile banking is a new and exciting way to bank for the customers in India. It not only has the multiple banking operations but also has quite a few support functions. Yet, it hasnt reached across India, as anticipated -RBI suggested. However, the growth in mobile banking in India is extremely encouraging. Here are few facts that will surprise you.

There is more than 7% month-on-month growth in the number of mobile transactions in India. This is based on the monthly transactions by August 2013.
By September 2013, the users have exchanged around Rs. 1565 Cr though the mobile transactions.

Though, the year-on-year growth is phenomenal, it cannot be considered well received when only a small fraction of the Indian banking customers are using it. When you realize the number of functionalities available, it is surprising that more numbers of people are not using it. The banking and allied functionalists available via mobile banking application are:
Locate the nearest branch of the bank via Google maps
Order a new cheque book
Check the status of new cheque book
Transfer funds
Check the balance available in the account
Take the mini-statement of the account
Pay utilities bills, credit card bills, insurance premiums, etc.
Make donations
Top up mobile recharge
The demat account services such as purchasing mutual funds, cancelling transactions, check NAVs, etc.

Arguably, all these services are not available in all the mobile banking apps released by all the banks. There is no sufficient response to the already-launched apps either. The research indicates that the primary reasons for this low-responsive state are:
Compatibility: The existing apps are not compatible with the various types of smartphones available in the market. Though, the smartphone market in India is expanding at the extraordinary rates, it is challenging to identify and release as many versions of the banking applications in the respective app stores. So, all interested customers dont get the app for mobile banking.
Awareness: All the bank customers are not aware of these apps. In spite of the promotions, this information hasnt penetrated down to all the social strata.

With few changes, the growth of smartphone banking in India can go in the high gear. It will become a routine concept. However, there are considerable infrastructure challenges. We still need to overcome them. With the right marketing and information strategy in place, interest and participation in the phone banking operations will reach sky high.

Sbi Online Banking An Effortless Banking Experience

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SBI online banking provides a user-friendly and secured platform to do your banking transactions. State Bank of India is a renowned name in India where most of the people prefer to be a customer of SBI. SBI has more than 11000 branches and other six associate banks across the whole India. It provides a large range of products and services

Onlinesbi.com is a website of SBI which provides online access to bank accounts of retail and corporate customers. To have an access to online banking services you have to download the Internet Banking registration form and submit it in the bank after filling the details. Once you submit all the details, the bank will provide you unique username and password to login to your account. It a good practice to change your username and password as soon as you login with the details.
The SBI virtual keyboard is a safer option than using the keyboard whenever you are making an online payment from any computer other than your own personal computer. Also you must avoid improper logging off. Customer logins and activities are tracked and archived. Also IRCTC allows you to make your payments via SBI Internet Banking.

Various Online banking services:-

Transfer funds to own and third party accounts

E-Ticketing

Opening bank accounts

PPF transactions

Demand Draft issue

Use eTax for online tax payment

Make bill payments over the Internet.

Request of Cheque Book

Set up profile settings

Railway and airline reservations

e-VFS- Electronic Vendor Finance Scheme

SBI has also introduced Loyalty Rewards Program, in which customers can get reward points for transacting online of Rs. 100 or above via onlinesbi. These points can be redeemed online for cash back. If you are a customer who has to do a lot of banking transaction, then internet banking is an excellent option for you. In case of any assistance regarding your internet banking account, you can call on Customer Care Toll-Free at 1800-112211

Comparison Of Health Insurance Schemes For Senior Citizens

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Comparison of Health Insurance Schemes for Senior Citizens:

It is absolutely vital that as one approaches old age, one has a substantial health insurance cover. The probability that ones health care expenses would increase substantially is almost a given. In this piece we look and compare the different health insurance plans that are available in the market for senior citizens. While every health insurance company wants to insure the young (and almost by definition, more healthy), there are very few plans which provide health insurance to people beyond 60. Another interesting thing to note here is that most of the health insurance plans for senior citizens is offered by the public sector general insurance companies.

The health insurance plans available for senior citizens are:

1.Varistha Mediclaim by National Insurance
2.Senior Citizen plan by Oriental Insurance
3.Mediclaim for Senior Citizens by New India Assurance
4.Senior Citizen Plan by United India Insurance
5.Red Carpet Plan by Star Health Insurance

Varistha Mediclaim by National Insurance: This policy can be bought by anyone between 60 and 80 years of age. Renewals can be done upto the age of 90. Between the age bands of 76-80, premiums have an added factor of 10% and between 80 to 90 years of age, premiums are grossed up by 20%. The sum insured under this policy for hospitalization is Rs 1 lakh. For critical illness, the sum insured is Rs 2 lakhs. Under the critical illness cover, diseases such as cancer, renal failure, stroke, organ transplants etc are covered. If the person has already been insured for 3 years through a health insurance policy, then he or she does not have to undergo a medical test, else there has to be a medical test under the prospective customers costs. For domiciliary treatment, the maximum claim is fixed at 20% of the sum insured. Ambulance charges upto Rs 1000 are covered under this policy. For a mediclaim cover of Rs 1 lakh and a critical illness cover of Rs 2 lakhs, the premium varies between Rs 6200 (for a 60-65 year old) to Rs 9200 (for a 75-80 year old). One interesting feature of this policy is that pre existing hypertension and diabetes are covered from the 1st year itself of the policy by paying 10% additional premium for each of the two diseases. Pre existing is of course not available for the critical illness policy. Other pre existing diseases are covered after 1 policy year. Dialysis, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for preexisting ailment is never covered. Claims are paid only for events that occur within India. Claims which occur within the first 30 days of the commencement of the policy will not be covered, unless in the case of the person being insured with an Insurance Company without break for the past 12 months. For the purpose of this policy, pre existing diseases such as cataract, piles, fistula, hernia, benign lumps, joint replacement etc will not be covered in the first 12 months. War related medical claims, vaccination, spectacles cost, plastic surgery, corrective dental surgery, venereal disease, vitamins and tonics which are not part of the treatment, nuclear disaster related health claims, alternative treatment like homeopathy etc are excluded.

Opinion: We think it is one of the best policies for senior citizens, except that the sum insured is low. They are quite generous as far as the norms for entry age and pre existing diseases are concerned.
2. Senior Citizen Specified Disease Plan by Oriental Insurance: In this plan, the policyholder has the option to choose sum insured of Rs 1 lakh, 2 lakhs, 3 lakhs, 4 lakhs or 5 lakhs. One restrictive feature of this policy is that 20% of any claim amount has to be co-paid by the insured. Cashless payment through TPA is restricted to Rs 1 lakh. This plan covers 10 specified diseases: cancer, renal failure, heart diseases, liver related diseases, COPD (lung ailment), stroke, prostrate, orthopaedic disease, ophthalmic disease, accidental injury and knee replacement. The amount that one can claim for a particular disease is restricted as a percentage of the sum insured (for e.g., 50% of the sum insured can be claimed for cancer, while 20% of the sum insured can be claimed for stroke). A sum insured of Rs 1 lakh will cost Rs 4500 for a 65 year old, while it will cost Rs 6400 if one is eighty years old or beyond. While this may seem cheaper than National Insurances Varistha medical scheme, it is less wide in scope. This policy has an interesting refund of premium clause if one withdraws from the policy: if the policyholder gets out of the policy within the first month, 75% of the premium is returned and if he opts out between 3 to 6 months of the policy, 25% of the premium is returned. In this policy, pre-existing diseases are not covered for a period of 2 policy years. Other exclusions are very similar to those of Nationals Varistha medical scheme.

Opinion: a good scheme in terms of the level of sum insured and price, but the scope of diseases covered is restrictive. Another issue is that pre-existing is covered only after 2 policy years.

Mediclaim for Senior Citizens by New India Assurance: This policy is available for senior citizens between 60 and 80 years, and the sum insured can be Rs 1 lakh or Rs 1.5 lakhs. Pre existing diseases are covered after 18 continuous months of coverage , while for diabetes and hypertension to be covered, additional premium needs to be paid. Pre hospitalization is covered for 30 days, while post hospitalization is covered for 60 days. An insurance of Rs 1 lakh for a 65 year old will cost Rs 3850 while it will cost Rs 5150 for an 80 year old. Thus, premiums are very competitively priced. If one wants to extend beyond 80 years, then loading of 10% or 20% has to be paid. For pre existing diabetes or hypertension, an additional premium of 10% each has to be paid. One interesting feature is that there is a 10% discount if ones spouse is also covered under this policy. This policy also has the same partial refund norms on cancellation as Orientals Specified Disease Plan. Claims would be paid only for medical treatment in India. The exclusion conditions are standard, and are very similar to Nationals Varistha Mediclaim.

Opinion: Attractively priced. Sum insured ceilings are low. The product brochure is silent on co-pay, and thus there is no co-pay requirement in all probability.

United India Insurances Specified Disease Plan: In this policy, sum insured of Rs 50,000 to Rs 300,000 is available to people between 60 to 80 years of age. Sum insured of Rs 1 lakh will cost Rs 3715 for a 65 year old, and Rs 8613 for an 80 year old. So while it is cheaper for the younger age bands, it is a bit expensive for the older age groups. An interesting feature of this policy is that there is a hospitalization cash payment from the 3rd day of hospitalization on payment of a particular additional premium. While other exclusion features of this policy are comparable to that of the previous 3 policies that we have discussed, the biggest problem of this policy is that this has a pre-existing waiting period of 4 years.

Opinion: Pre existing waiting period of 4 years is restrictive

Star Healths Red Carpet Plan: This plan has been a good marketing success. While one barely gets to hear about the reasonably broad, well priced schemes of the 4 nationalised companies, the market is quite excited about Star Healths Red Carpet scheme. The sum insured under this policy can be for Rs 1 lakh, Rs 2 lakhs, Rs 3 lakhs, Rs 4 lakhs or Rs 5 lakhs. Age of entry is restricted between 60 and 69 years. Pre existing diseases are covered from the 1st year itself, except for those preexisting diseases for which the insured received payment in the preceding 12 months. Subsequently, these pre-existing diseases are covered. There are sub limits under this policy wherein different diseases have different limits as a percentage of the sum insured. Sum insured of Rs 1 lakh will cost Rs 4900 at entry, while a sum insured of Rs 5 lakhs will cost Rs 20000.. The biggest catch in this policy is that there is a 50% co-payment for pre existing diseases and 30% co-payment for other diseases!! Other exclusions are very similar to what is there for the nationalized companies.

Opinion: Simple, well marketed claim. But the co-payment terms are a huge negative! The ceiling for maximum age at entry is quite low (69 years), though the guaranteed renewal feature is a big positive. Also, the sum insured levels of Rs 5 lakh is quite high and attractive in these days of escalated medical costs.

In summary, we feel that Nationals Varistha Plan is the widest in scope. The only issue with the plans of the Nationalised Insurance companies is that the sum insured levels offered might not be adequate for todays high healthcare costs. On the other hand, they are at least offering senior citizen health plans. It is very difficult to locate any meaningful health insurance scheme for senior citizens offered by any private health insurance company, except Star Health. The only problem that we see with Star Healths Red Carpet plan is that of the Co-pay restriction.

Treat Travel Insurance As Priority

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Being a tourist, it would not be difficult if you are not familiar with the ‘where’s’ and ‘what’s’ of the country or city. Therefore, in the event of an unforeseen emergency you might not know where and how to access the required care. However, if you have purchased travel insurance, then you can breathe easy, because in case you fall into an unfavorable situation like a medical emergency, your travel health insurance policy will take care of your concern. Customer care centers set up by travel insurance companies will guide you in case of an emergency and help you in the event of a claim. By buying a travel insurance policy, you can also avail the benefit of the expenses related to your medical care and baggage loss or theft when abroad.

In general, most travel insurance plans offer coverage for the emergency medical expenses consisting of disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs and loss arising due to loss, theft or damage of baggage and other items. This, of course, depends on the type of plan you pick. There are many travel insurance policies available in market, you always have the option to compare these plans and pick the one which suits your need and pocket the best way.

While looking for comparative chart on different policies, you can always depend on online sources. These days almost all travel insurance companies provide the option of online insurance policies and thus information about their different insurance plans are easily available over the internet, in their respective website. You can also look for travel insurance policies through travel agents, insurance brokers, tour operators, cruise lines and organizations that arrange for volunteer and other travel.

Nowadays, many travel insurance providers tie-up with airlines. So, while you are booking your flight tickets, you can also choose the option of travel insurance; perhaps you may get some discount.

Before buying travel insurance, you should always check your present healthcare policies and benefits on your credit cards and air carriers. This will help you consider potential risks. Do you want your policy to be mainly based on health grounds or a combination of add-on benefits? You should always be clear in your choice of insurance policies you buy. Choosing the right type of travel insurance plan will bring you peace of mind when travelling.

It is very essential to have a car insurance policy. Author Pranav Sharma is an experienced insurance professional and widely read expert on general insurance based in Mumbai. Pranav helps readers opt for best travel insurance policy in India.

MBA Education for Banking and Non-Banking Managerial Jobs

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Business schools in many countries offer management courses tailored to full time, part-time, executive and distance learning MBA programs. Since MBA degree from any well-known institute not only offers recognition, but also a high salary package, a wide range of MBA programs are tailored with specialized concentrations like finance, marketing, accounting, information technology, human resource management and many other fields. In India, some MBA colleges offer post graduation diploma courses called PGDM programs which are approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). AITCE is an apex Indian government undertaking with a view to improve the qualitative technical education system throughout the country and regulate the norms and standards for planning the quantitative growth and matters connected therewith. Since the strength of any country’s economy lies in finance and banking sectors, the importance of MBAs in these sectors cannot be understated.

In India, all types of commercial banks, public sector banks, rural banks, foreign banks, private banks and urban co-operative banking institutions play a significant role in boosting the economy and financial position of the country. MBA degree is considered to be the foremost qualification which is required by these banking and financial institutions for their managerial level positions. MBA education in finance provides important knowledge about the financial skills and solutions for the issues relating to the domestic and international banking and services. Market analysis and cash management skills are two important areas which every MBA student must know how to handle. MBA with specialization in finance offers to learn a variety of subjects like costing, budgeting, corporate finance, international finance, investments, working capital finance and securities etc. MBAs pursuing their courses in finance can start their career in any investment firm or any banking institute as an associate manager. MBA in finance from top MBA colleges offers lucrative job placements from big companies and financial institutes. An MBA in finance has options to work with leading banks and non-banking institutions. He or she might have an option to work as a securities analyst or working with brokerage firms dealing in buying and selling of securities.

Degree of MBA in India from any reputed college is considered to be one of the most sought after degree aimed at providing high class management studies. Since the studies of marketing teaches about the art of selling products and services, MBAs has to analyze and assess the feasibility of products and services according to the market demand. They are required to introduce marketing strategies for marketing new products. They have to set marketing goals and have to work on branding, planning and adoption of promotional campaigns. In other words, marketing MBAs have to bring out new ideas and concepts which can help the companies and organizations to grow and prosper. Marketing MBA courses are designed to help inculcate good reasoning and problem solving skills which can help the individual to sell and market the products in difficult situations. MBA in marketing offers good pay-scale packages and jobs in this area are always in demand for all commercial, industrial and corporate sectors.

About Author: ISBF has been established to impart quality education with international recognition in the area of Economics, CFP, Management and MBA Education courses in India.

Visit us at: http://www.isbf.edu.in/ for more info on MBA and MBA Colleges and Finance courses.

Top Private College in India and Abroad

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Getting placed in banks has been a dream of millions of aspirants for years. Even the prospects of jobs in banks have increased many folds as a result of extensive growth of both public and private sector banks in different cities and rural areas. Mass retirement of banking personnel is also gaining momentum now. As a result, the number of banking positions to be filled in the coming years will be in lacs, providing plenty of opportunities to the aspirants. IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) and SBI are the key players in the banking personnel selection. IBPS has also achieved the expertise of implementing the online test process efficiently and effectively. Also the results of these tests are available in a very short span of time. Now it is up to the candidates to prepare in the best manner and present themselves as right fit for the job. Along with sound knowledge, both the PO and clerk examinations require a fine pace and time management in solving the questions. Preparing well for these examinations does not always require coaching. There are many aspirants who already work somewhere and can not devote time for coaching classes. But this is not at all a matter to lose hope. For a person who is sincere enough, even a self but focused preparation can work wonders. The only advantage of coaching classes is that they provide you a stimulated environment. Thanks to technology. Now we have the facility of bank PO test preparation online. On internet, we may find a lot many websites that provide complete study material, previous year question papers, and various online tests for preparation. www.decidecollege.com is a very handy approach to acquire all information and solve all queries regarding education, educational institutes, and a variety of courses to give a jumpstart to your career. It provides complete details on various training courses online, bank exams preparation, professional courses and colleges providing such courses as per your location. Not just all this, you can also get jobs alert on mobile by subscribing for it.

Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd. – Wind Turbines A turbulent future

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The Enercon E126 launched five years ago is still the world’s largest wind turbine with a production capacity of 7.5 MW. Harnessing wind energy has been in practice since times immemorial, with sailors harnessing it with the use of sails. The idea of utilizing the kinetic energy of wind to produce electricity came to the Scottish academic James Blyth when he installed the first electricity generating wind turbine as a battery-charging machine in July 1887 to light his holiday home in Marykirk, Scotland. Windmills have been used traditionally for other purposes like, pulling water out from wells, grinding grains, etc. The idea that wind energy could be utilized for commercial production of electricity became a reality when a prototype model of the modern horizontal-axis wind generators came into service at Yalta, USSR in 1931. The first utility grid-connected wind turbine to operate in the UK was built by John Brown & Company in 1951 in the Orkney Islands while as of 2012 Vestas is the largest manufacturers of wind turbines.

India has been one of the major producers of wind power with an installed capacity of 19051.5 MW. India ranks fifth in terms of installed wind power capacities, with Tamil Nadu being the major producer with 7154 MW of installed power capacity. The current energy scenario suggests that renewable energy is the way to go, as fossil fuels along with their exhaustible nature are majorly the cause for global warming. The unsustainable use of non-renewable resources has been touted as the major cause for the increasing global GHG emissions. Climate change mitigation strategies all around the world are advocating for the use of renewable energy sources.

Sources like solar, wind, biomass and water are the major options currently available for renewable energy production. While water and biomass are gaining popularity in India, solar and wind energy are lagging behind in terms of production capacity. The high prices per unit of electricity produced from solar panels are one of the reasons why solar energy has not gained the desired popularity. Wind energy on the other hand is gaining popularity in India with The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) having aimed to reach a target of 10,500 MW during the period, 2007-12, but an additional generation capacity of only about 6,000 MW was to be made available for commercial use by 2012. As of January 2013, India boasts of an installed capacity of 19051.5 MW.

The positives of electricity production from wind energy do not however cover up the fact that Wind Turbines are possibly the one of the most harmful among the renewable energy options available to us today. A recent report published by the CSE on the impact assessment of Wind turbine projects to be set up in Maharashtra have raised many an eyebrows on the issue of renewable energy’s -cleanliness-. The report mentions the harmful side-effects of utilizing wind turbines for electricity generation among its advantages as well. According to the study, wind projects set up on forestland and hilly areas can have a greater impact on water resources and ecology as compared to those in plains. The major disadvantage for humans is observed in case the turbines are placed near human settlements. Residents will be affected by the loud noises and the shadow flicker effect that is commonly associated with the wind turbines. Ecologically, birds and bats are affected severely due to the changing air pressures caused by the swiftly rotating turbines. Turbines also cause extreme soil erosion in forested and hilly areas causing a phenomenon known as linear erosion of soil. It has been observed in cases of large wind farms that the rotating blades cause many bird fatalities. All these ecological atrocities are the reason why there is a need for a paradigm shift from the conventional wind energy generation.

It is observed that instead of installing multiple small wind turbines in wind farms it is usually ecologically more efficient to have one large turbine operating in the area. The velocity of the blades is lower than the small turbines thereby reducing the combined effects of shadow flicker and linear fragmentation of soil. Offshore wind turbines have proven to be more effective as compared to terrestrial/onshore ones. Current plan to install around 10,000 MW capacity wind farms in Maharashtra may prove disastrous to the ecology as well as to the population of the area.

For more information visit: Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd.