Saraswat Co-operative Bank, the largest multistate co-operative bank in the country, is likely to acquire financially-troubled Anyonya Co-op Bank (ACBL) soon. The merger of 118-yearold ACBL, which has 10 branches in Gujarat, is estimated to cost Rs 25 crore to Saraswat Bank. At present, Saraswat Bank has 190 branches in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and New Delhi. The bank has done a business of Rs 21,000 crore so far in the current financial year. In the last three years, it has acquired six co-operative banks — Maratha Mandir Coop Bank, Mandvi Co-op Bank (Mumbai), Annasaheb Karale Urban Co-op Bank (Sangli), Murdha Rajendra Co-operative Bank (Meerat), South Indian Bank (Mumbai) and Nashik-based Nashik People's Co-op Bank. In the process it has acquired 700,000 depositors.
As the name suggests, it's an electronic process through which money can be transferred from one bank account to another. According to RBI, this mode is usually used for regular payments and receipts, like distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension etc. This mode is also used for collection of bills for telephone, electricity, water, various types of taxes, payment of EMIs , investments in mutual funds , payment of insurance premium etc. There are two types of ECS , like most other banking transactions, ECS credit and ECS debit. An ECS credit is used by a bank account holder , usually a large company or an institution for services like payment of dividend, in terest, salary, pension etc. If your mutual fund pays you dividend to your bank account, of all probability it is being paid through ECS credit.ECS debit, on the other hand, is used when a company or an institution is getting money from a large number of people. For example if you are investing in a mutual fund sc...
