What is phishing

Phishing is a type of cyber at tack in which Internet users are tricked into divulging sensitive information about their bank ac counts and personal details. Fraudsters who en gage in phishing scams intend to steal your cre dentials to siphon mon ey from your account.

2. How does phishing work?

A common online phishing scam starts with a spoofed e-mail message that looks like an official notice from a trusted source, such as a bank, credit card company , or reputable online mer chant. These spoofed mails tell recipients to validate or update their personal credentials failing which their accounts would become inactive and directs them to a website that looks like the genuine organisa tion's website.Unsuspecting customers follow the links in the mail and submit their personal details that fraudsters later use to place orders, services, transfer money from ac counts, etc which ulti mately leads to identity theft.

3. What are the details banks will never ask for via phone or email?

Banks will never ask for your full PIN or any online banking passwords over the phone or via email. It will not ask a client to email or text personal or banking information.Further, banks will not send emails with a link to a page that asks for your online banking log-in details.

4. What are the actions that a bank will not ask a client to take?

Banks will never ask clients to transfer funds to another ac count, hand over cash or carry out a test transaction online. They will also not call to advise clients to buy diamonds, land or other commodities.When it comes to banking services through mobile apps, banks will not ask clients to use any mobile apps other than the bank's official app.

5. How can I ensure safety while banking online?

Ensure that your passwords are simple, strong and kept confi dential. Remember to change the passwords periodically or whenever you feel your password has been compromised. Always use the virtual keyboard to enter your credentials. Use newer or upgraded versions of browsers as they are regularly updated to block and alert you from accessing the phishing sites. Logout completely after using the online application and close that browser window. Always check the address bar on the website to see if the address starts with `https' and look out for the `secure' sign with an icon of a lock. If you do come across any suspicious website, or have received any such mail, do inform your bank. While banks have introduced additional layers of security , you need to be careful too.

The traditional PE takes the earnings of the trailing 12 months into account while the Shiller PE uses 10-year data, thus eliminating the possibility of fluctuations.

The broader market indices have fallen in the recent past, but the commonly used valuation ratios, such as the price-to earnings ratio (PE), didn't mirror this fall. This is because earnings per share (EPS), the denominator in this ratio, also came down during this period, thus not allowing any fall in the share prices to be reflected in the PE ratio. This is why experts suggest that investors should look at alternative ratios such as the Shiller PE ratio.

The Shiller PE ratio has been developed by Robert Shiller, winner of the Nobel prize for Economics in 2013. The main advantage of the Shiller PE ratio is that it eliminates the fluctuations in the regular PE ratio caused by variations in profit margins during business cycles. The regular PE uses the trailing 12 months earnings per share (EPS). Since companies usually report high margins and earnings during upcycles, the regular PE will be low during cyclical peaks, sending out buy signals. Similarly, during margins and earnings crash during cyclical bottoms, the regular PE will be high, and give out sell signals. For example, the share price of Cairn India almost halved in the recent past, but its PE doubled because of the fall in EPS. You can also see a similar situation with stocks of public sector banks such as PNB.

There is another reason why we should use seasonally adjusted PE for cyclical sectors. Last year, some cyclical companies reported losses, so the normal PE will not work (PE will be negative)

Shiller PE, on the other hand, is calculated based on the EPS of the last 10 years. To make historical EPS values comparable to the current share price, the same is adjusted for inflation. Since this includes periods with high margins and low margins, the average EPS is cyclically adjusted. This is why Shiller PE is also known as CAPE ratio (cyclically adjusted PE ratio) or PE 10, because its based on 10-year data.

How is the Shiller PE placed now with regard to Sensex valuation? While the broader market, on trailing PE basis, is still in a reasonably valued zone, it is in an undervalued zone going by Shiller PE. The Sensex's trailing 12 months PE is placed at 18.47, just below its 10-year average of 19.26 and, therefore, can be considered to be in a reasonably valued zone. On the other hand, its latest Shiller PE is placed at 16.40, significantly lower than its 10-year average of 24.03.

The Shiller PE is also closer to its historical bottom. While trailing PE is 78% above its bottom, Shiller PE is just 28% above.

Though Shiller PE generates better results while analysing the cyclical companies, investors should not treat it is as absolutely fool proof. Just like the regular PE, Shiller PE should also be seen in relation to a company's earnings record. Earnings trajectory is very important. The counter may look cheap on PE, but will go down further if the earning keeps on falling. Also, investors must remember that when using a new tool such as the Shiller PE, consistency in its application, across market cycles, is a must. "If investors are using Shiller PE in a bear market, they should use it in the bull market as well.

A PAN card issued in the name of a minor does not contain the minor's photograph or signature, and therefore, cannot be used as a valid proof of identity. Once a minor PAN card holder turns 18, the relevant changes must be made in the PAN records. A new card is then issued bearing a photograph and signature.

Application

The applicant is required to fill up the "Request for new PAN card andor changes or correction in PAN data" form. The form can be filled up online by accessing NSDL's Tax Information Network website and clicking on the online PAN application tab.

Information

The applicant must mention the existing PAN number in the application and check the `photo mismatch' and `signature mismatch' boxes, and submit the online form. The form must also be printed out, signed by the applicant, and submitted along with two photographs.

Documents

Identity and address proof in the form of a copy of the applicant's Aadhaar card, passport, voter ID or bank account statement should also be enclosed with the application form.

Fee

A fee of `107 needs to be paid either through online banking or by creditdebit card. Alternatively, a demand draft of `107 drawn in favour of NSDL-PAN must be enclosed with the application.

Process

Once the online form has been submitted, the applicant will receive an acknowledgement number. The completed application must be dispatched to the nearest NSDL or UTISL-approved centre.

The applicant can find out the status of his application by quoting the acknowledgment number.

If necessary, the applicant can also make other changes to the PAN data (address or name correction, etc.) at the same time, by submitting the relevant documents.

The applicant should ensure that the proof of address, identity, etc. enclosed with the application is valid.

If you are looking for a loan, it pays to be a woman. Public and private sector banks as well as NBFCs are vying with one another to attract women customers by offering special schemes and attractive loan terms.

These cover a wide range of secured loan products, such as home or vehicle loans and unsecured loans for education, business and personal spending. Many of these benefits are extended to cases where the woman is a co-borrower.

Home loans

When purchasing a home by taking a loan, if the borrower is a woman, the interest rate is lower. SBI's Her Ghar home loan scheme offers a 5 basis points (bps) lower rate for women borrowers. The current rate of interest for women borrowers is 20 bps above the base rate of 9.3 per cent. Now, 5 bps saving may not seem much, but given that the loan amount is typically high, it can add up over the long tenure of the loan.

For example, you can save ₹40,000 on a loan of ₹50 lakh, over 20 years. Likewise, ICICI Bank also offers women borrowers a 5 bps lower rate.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services has launched a home loan division, called MALA, for women. Salaried and self-employed women can get home loans of ₹2-12 lakh to purchase affordable housing units. Interest rates are in the 10-13 per cent range.

Vehicle loans

If you are thinking of buying a two-wheeler, Andhra Bank may be an option. Interest rates for women are 1 per cent above the base rate for all loan tenures, compared with 1.75-2 per cent above the base rate for other borrowers (based on loan period). Mahindra Finance offers a 0.5 per cent rebate on two-wheeler loans to women customers.

For women buying a car, Bharatiya Mahila Bank's Dream Car Loan may be a good choice.

The loan is offered at the base rate, currently at 9.7 per cent.

SBI offers 25 bps discount on car loans for women borrowers under its 'Her Ghar Her Car' loyalty scheme.

Business and other loans

There are many special loan schemes that cover a broad spectrum of businesses ranging from crèche to setting up industries.

Many of them require that the majority shareholding in the company (over 50 per cent) be held by women. For instance, Bank of India's Star Doctors Plus programme offers a 0.5 per cent lower interest rate for setting up medical pathological/diagnostic services by doctors, if 51 per cent stake in the entity is held by women. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank's Mahalir loan offers working capital and asset purchase funding to women-owned businesses. The interest rate is not lower than general business loans, but the loan tenure is longer, at seven years (compared with five years for most other business loans).

SBI offers many different schemes for women entrepreneurs. For instance, Stree Shakti Package is available for enterprises that are majority women-owned.

These loans offer advantages, such as 5 per cent lower margin requirement, interest rate reduction of 0.5 per cent for loans of over ₹2 lakh and waiver of security for loans up to ₹5 lakh in case of tiny sector units.

The Cent Kalyani scheme from Central Bank of India offers loans of up to ₹1 crore at an interest rate of 0.25 per cent over the base rate to new as well as experienced female business owners, professionals and self-employed. Education loans to girl students are also available at lower interest rates. Bharatiya Mahila Bank's Saraswati education loan offers a 1 per cent interest rate concession to girl students. SBI, Axis Bank and Central Bank of India offer 0.5 per cent interest rate reduction on their education loans to female students.

Women can also get better rates on many personal loan schemes. Syndicate Bank's SyndSaral scheme for women provides personal loan with a 0.25 per cent discount in interest rate. Likewise, Bank of India's Star personal loan offers 0.5 per cent concession on rates, if all the borrowers are women.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank offers a special loan for kitchen renovation and purchase of electronic items, furniture and utensils.

The loan term is seven years and the maximum loan amount is ₹5 lakh. The interest rate is 11.7 per cent based on the current base rate.

Many banks also offer personal loan schemes for women to buy gold and silver. Karur Vysya Bank's Mahila Swarna Loan, for instance, is offered to women employees of the Central or State Governments to purchase jewellery and silverware. Bank of India's Mahila Gold Loan Scheme is offered to women for buying gold ornaments.

The interest rate is 3 per cent over the base rate, compared to other personal loans where the spread is 4-5 per cent.

Subsequently, the Pension Fund Regulatory Authority (PFRDA) accepted permanent account number (PAN) and a bank-based KYC to open NPS accounts online. Since then, the courts have allowed the use of Aadhaar for eKYC but only if the customer prefers this method.

On 17 February 2016, PFRDA decided to allow the use of Aadhaar as e-KYC, which makes opening an account online much simpler.

"When we launched eNPS earlier on a pilot basis, we allowed for eKYC through Aadhaar card. But we had to discontinue after the Supreme Court restrictions on the use of Aadhaar as eKYC. Now that it has been clarified that it can be used as per customer's choice and that it should not be made mandatory, we have allowed Aadhaar to be used as eKYC, through which a subscriber can open an NPS account instantly online," said B.S. Bhandari, whole time member, economics, PFRDA.

"Now one can use either Aadhaar or PAN and bank account for online registration under eNPS," he added.

Offline process

The offline process starts with finding a point of presence (PoP). These are intermediaries such as banks that help you subscribe to NPS, carry out KYC verification and also receive NPS contributions from you. There are about 63 PoPs, and almost all the bigger banks provide this service. See the full PoP list on http://bit.ly/1TlvCxJ .

You need to fill up a subscriber registration form to open an account (get the form here: http://bit.ly/1QBjK8k ). You need to fill in details about yourself, your bank account number, choice of pension fund manager and asset allocation.

You also need to submit all KYC documents (not needed if opening through your bank) and make a contribution. The minimum contribution is Rs.500, and you need to invest at least Rs.6,000 every year. A permanent retirement account number (PRAN) is generated and sent. This is a unique portable number that will remain with you under NPS.

Your welcome kit also contains various passwords, which you can use to access your account through the call centre or online on the Central Record-keeping Agency (CRA) website.

PoPs get paid from the contributions you make. There is a one-time charge of Rs.125, called the subscriber registration charge, for account opening.

Then a charge of 0.25% of the amount received from the subscriber will apply on all transactions subject to a minimum of Rs.20 and maximum of Rs.25,000. Non-financial transactions or those that do not involve a contribution from the subscriber will cost Rs.20 per transaction.

Online process

You can open your online account by going to www.npstrust.org.in and then going to e-nps.

You will need to register and there are two ways of doing it. One is using your PAN and bank account details and the other is using Aadhaar.

To subscribe online, you need to have a mobile phone number, email ID and a bank account with Net banking facility.

The process of registration is the same as the offline process in terms of the information needed, but if you provide PAN, you will also need to give a bank account which the authorities can tap for your KYC.

PFRDA has about 15 empanelled banks and only if you have a bank account with any of these can you avail the PAN plus bank verified-KYC to open your account online.

Currently, 17 banks have agreed to do the KYC verification for eNPS wherever the subscriber has given PAN and bank account details. Fifteen banks have already started doing it. We are in talks with other banks also to operationalise this. Opening eNPS through PAN and bank account needs verification of the subscriber's address as the address proof is not available through PAN. So, we have clubbed PAN with a bank account. If the subscriber has a bank account with an empanelled bank, then the bank verifies the KYC details.

In the online process too, you need to contribute at the time of registration and any subsequent transaction is possible after the KYC details have been verified by the bank. For KYC, banks will charge you a one-time fee of up to Rs.125 (plus applicable taxes) and this will be debited from your bank account by the bank as KYC authentication charges.

The process may be cumbersome as you may not have your account with an empaneled bank or KYC details may not match.

Opening eNPS account using PAN and bank account involves the intervention of banks, which could sometimes cause delay as the banks have to verify the KYC details. Sometimes, details may not match with the bank's records.

In about 25% of the cases where PAN and bank account have been used for KYC, the process has not been smooth due to delay in verification by banks and or mismatches in what's available with banks and the address given by the subscriber on her eNPS form

In the second method, you start by keying in the Aadhaar number. A one-time password (OTP) will be sent to the Aadhaar-registered mobile phone number. Once the OTP is verified, you will have to fill up information such as your bank details, and also make an initial payment. Do remember that to open an account online, you will need to scan and upload a digital signature and also a photograph. If you are using Aadhaar, then a photograph appears automatically, which you can change with another one.

Again you need to make a contribution. "Before eNPS, a subscriber could contribute through facilities like cheque, ECS (electronic clearing service) and NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer). Now, through eNPS, a subscriber has the option to invest online. No PoP charges will apply but there will be payment gateway charges, which can be high for credit and debit card transaction. For Net banking facility, it's just 60 paise," said Sumit Shukla, chief executive officer, HDFC Pension Management Co. Ltd.

The process, however, doesn't stop here. You have to print the NPS form that was filled online, paste a photograph, sign the form and submit the print out within 90 days to the CRA. Currently, National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) is the CRA. If you don't send the form, your account will be 'frozen' temporarily.

If you already have an account, you can make use of the e-NPS facility to contribute online.

Such contributions can only happen through e-NPS, else it's via NEFT, cheque, among other payment options.

The convenience of opening an NPS account online is a welcome move, although it still encapsulates an offline process of having to send the physical form. As of 17 February, 2,411 online NPS accounts had been opened using the PAN plus bank account method, and 2,573 accounts were opened using the Aadhaar route, according to PFRDA data.

Make use of the process if you plan to open an NPS account. It is a low-cost investment plan for your retirement years and the Budget announcement have made the tax treatment more favourable.