In January, ICICI conducted its first interbank money market transaction involving SOFR.
New Delhi: Private lender ICICI Bank on Thursday announced that it has executed its first term loan and cross currency swap derivatives transaction linked to Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).
The transactions were carried out through the international offices of the bank with a corporate client. ICICI Bank said that these transactions reflect its readiness towards smooth transition from US Dollar LIBOR (London Interbank Offer Rate) to Alternate Reference Rates (ARR) linked transactions.
Earlier in January, ICICI carried out its first interbank money market transaction involving SOFR, which has been identified as a replacement for USD LIBOR.
Anuj Bhargava, Head, Global Clients Group, ICICI Bank said, “The lender is actively working with its clients for a seamless transition from LIBOR to ARR. These transactions are just the beginning of the move towards ARR.”
B Prasanna, ICICI Bank Group Head – Global Markets, Sales, Trading & Research, said, “With the measures announced by the regulators globally, there is an increased shift in the markets towards ARR linked products. As the deadline approaches, the liquidity ARR linked products will increase and ICICI Bank is set to expand its product suite to meet the needs of the customers.”
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in August last year requested banks to prepare a board-approved plan, including assessment and preparation of LIBOR-linked exposures, on steps to be taken to address the risks arising from termination. was underlined. To adopt ARR.
Contactless payment solution through ICICI Bank’s app
In a separate development, the lender on Wednesday launched a contactless payment service through its banking app, iMobile Pay, which allows customers to tap their smartphones to make payments at POS (point of sale) machines of merchant outlets. enables. ICICI Bank had said, “The service provides better convenience to over 15 crore debit and credit card customers of the bank as they will no longer need to carry their cards for payments at retail stores.”
The ‘Tap to Pay’ facility through iMobile Pay is now available on Visa cards and will soon be activated on Mastercard cards as well.
The bank further mentioned that for transactions above Rs 5,000, customers need to enter their card PIN (Personal Identification Number) by waving the phone near the POS device.
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