We covered the aspects of the first IBPS exam on October of last year. The previous exam was a huge success among the job seekers who were desperately looking for openings in various financial institutions in India. The best thing about the IBPS system is that it handles a single window exam, a common selection procedure that shapes a rank list, from which the participating banks can select applicants matching their needs. Every year IBPS sets up exams for three job categories; PO, Clerical cadre and for specialist officers.

SBI Smart Pension

SBI Life announced an  unlit linked investment + insurance plan Smart Pension.  It is the new retirement plan from the company after the change in ULIP rules introduced by the IRDA in last September. We had already informed you about SBI Life Smart Performer, which is a non-participating general ULIP plan and LIC’s Pension scheme Pension Plus. In this post, we will review the features of SBI Life Smart Pension, benefits, charges and latest NAV value.

SBI Life Smart Performer

More and more providers are announcing new ULIP products in India. SBI Life Smart Performer and SBI Life Unit Plus Super are two new  plans launched by SBI life Insurance company. The SBI Life Smart Performer is completely redesigned ULIP product and comes under the latest  IRDA regulations come into effect on this month. Thus the charges associated with SBI smart performer is smaller than the ULIP products like Unit Plus III sold until September 2010. Like in LIC Pension Plus, SBI Life Smart Performer invests the fund of the user in two plans and two fund options. SBI Life Smart Performer – Daily protect Fund provides guaranteed returns and 5% more of the NAV at 7th year of the policy term.

LIC Pension Plus

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) introduced a ULIP based investment with insurance plan called LIC Pension Plus.  The new LIC Pension follows the strict rules by IRDA that come into effect from September 1 2010.  LIC Pension Plus plan is designed in such a way that to accumulate wealth during a persons lifetime until pension, and let him live in a tension free life after the retirement. The minimum premium period  of the policy is 10 years and maximum 40 years. At the end of the policy term, the fund value will be paid with guaranteed maturity benefits, either as a lump sum or in the form of installments. Unfortunately there is no life cover with this policy. However, in the event of any mishap during the policy term, the exiting fund value will be cashed to the relatives. The LIC  Pension Plus plan assured a 4.5% yearly return as per IRDA norms.

QOB

Most banks in India offer savings and current account for their customers, based on certain conditions. There will be a specific charge for opening an account, and a quarterly average balance that should be maintained to keep the account working. Banks usually impose a service charge on all customers, those who fail to meet the QAB demands. The quarterly average balance is an importance factor that determines the eligibility of the user for insurance, credit card and bank loans. So here is a method to calculate the calculate quarterly average balance (QAB) of an account based on one example.

Paypal India verification

Every Indian Paypal user can now verify their account without a credit card. Paypal has added option to verify Indian Paypal accounts with a debit card or bank account. It was long term request from Indian users to Paypal, to add debit card verification as an alternative to real credit cards.  Many users verified Paypal with VCC created using HDFC NetSafe and other internet banking accounts. However it was illegal to verify Paypal with VCC, and Paypal used to limit accounts using such methods. So here is how you can verify Paypal legally in India without credit card and VCC using new facility.