MUMBAI: Private sector lender HDFC Bank said that it has gone live on Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) for HDFC Bank’s Net Banking for customers.

BBPS is a centralized system created by National Payments Corporation of India involving banks and non-banks, which allows agents to access bill payments services in an interoperable manner. Customers can now pay their utility bills like electricity, gas and water bills instantly without registering the biller.

MUMBAI: In a bid to discourage cash transactions, country's second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has decided to steeply increase the fees for savings account holders on a slew of activities involving cash.

The move assumes significance as the government post demonetisation has been encouraging people to shift to a cash-less or less-cash regime and use digital mode for transactions.

Mumbai: The country’s second biggest private lender HDFC Bank has rationalised its staff by 4,581 employees in a single quarter courtesy efficiencies in the system and lower hiring.

The bank, which reported its slowest profit growth ever at 15% for the December quarter, saw total headcount reduce to 90,421 on 31 December 2016 as against 95,002 in 30 September 2016. In an e-mailed response, the country’s most valuable bank sought to de-link the reduction in employees from any other factor but efficiencies and lower hiring.

HDFC Bank said on Tuesday that its fiscal third quarter net profit was at Rs 3,865 crore, rising about 15% and beating most analyst estimates.

A Reuters poll had forecast HDFC Bank’s third quarter net profit at Rs 3,788 crore.

Private sector HDFC Bank has set a target to provide training to 25,000 people, including businessmen, in Madhya Pradesh in carrying out cashless transactions at special camps.

“We will train 15,000 customers and 10,000 businessmen about the use and benefits of cashless transactions,” HDFC Madhya Pradesh Unit’s Zonal Head Sudesh Jaisinghani told reporters here today.

HDFC Bank, the country’s second-largest private one, will be using robots at its branches, to assist customers.

Nitin Chugh, their country head for digital banking, said more ‘humanoids’ would be deployed after seeing the response from customers. Then, the scale of work done with these would be expanded.

Having already exhausted a Rs 5,000 crore limit to issue 'masala bonds', mortgage major HDFC on Saturday said the Reserve Bank has granted it permission to raise another Rs 3,000 crore from the newly emerging route.

"We have approval from the RBI to raise more money. I think, we have approval for Rs 3,000 crores. But, we will wait and watch," its vice chairman and chief executive Keki Mistry told reporters in Mumbai.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank has reduced the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 15 basis points (bps) across tenures.

The bank’s one-year MCLR now stands at 8.9%, on par with larger rivals State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

Private sector HDFC Bank on Wednesday said it would offer cash withdrawal services in over 50 large stores across metro cities, where the customer can swipe their debit cards in the stores’ point of sales machines to withdraw cash up to Rs 2,000.

The facility will be available for non-HDFC Bank customers as well.

Aditya Puri, managing director of HDFC Bank, was the only Indian business chief to have secured a position on Fortune’s businessperson of the year report.

Puri has been at the helm of the country’s second-largest private sector lender since its inception in 1994 and has been ranked 36th on the list, out of a total of 50 business leaders.

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