State Bank of India (SBI) which is India’s largest lender has today (June 2, 2020) has launched a separate vertical to focus on ‘Financial Inclusion & Micro Markets (FI&MM). Under the new vertical, SBI will offer loans predominantly for agriculture, allied activities & micro and small enterprises.
SBI Loans for Farmers & Small Business: Features
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Under this plan of SBI, around 8000 branches in rural & semi-urban areas are identified to provide specialised services for the micro segment such as credit for small businesses and farmers.
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The new vertical will have a 4-tiered structure under the chief general manager, general manager, RMs at regional business offices (RBO) as well as district Sales Hub for strengthening the credit deliver system & to improve the turnaround time for quick sanctions and disbursement of small loans.
SBI Loans for Farmers & Small Business: Benefits
1. The ‘Financial Inclusion & Micro Markets (FI&MM) is likely to improve customer experience by exclusively focusing on rural and semi-urban areas.
2. The new vertical of SBI is expected to improve service quality & availability of banking services via bank’s network of more than 63,000 Customer Service Points. Thus, it will cater to the needs of rural, semi urban, urban & metro areas.
3. SBI said that its aim is to boost the micro-finance sector.
It is to be noted that the vertical will be headed by Sanjeev Nautiyal who is a Deputy Managing Director (DMD) at the bank, at the national level.
Chairman of SBI, Rajnish Kumar said, “The key elements to create the vertical are to bring sharper focus to several business lines & improve the quality of interaction with customers at the branch. This is a key initiative by SBI to cater to financial requirements of people living in the hinterland of the country, as part of its financial inclusion journey. It will provide an opportunity to serve the small business, agri & allied segment so that they can run their businesses smoothly, especially in the present times of uncertainty."
