Sector: Financials | September 2016
12 Annual Global Investor Conference
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SFB Panel Discussion
Opportunities and challenges for small finance banks
Key takeaways from the panel discussion at AGIC 2016
To facilitate financial inclusion and banking penetration in India, the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) last year granted small finance bank (SFB) licenses to 10 entities, eight of
which were micro finance institutions (MFIs). At our 12 AGIC, a panel of five of these
license awardees discussed the transition from being an NBFC to becoming an SFB, as
well as opportunities and challenges ahead for them.
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The panel members included Mr. Sanjay Agarwal (Au Financiers), Mr. P.N. Vasudevan
(Equitas Holdings), Mr. V.S. Radhakrishnan (Janalakshmi Financial Services), Mr.
Baskar Babu (Suryoday Microfinance) and Mr. Samit Ghosh (Ujjivan Financial
Services).
For the first time, in FY16, MFIs garnered more accounts in urban than in rural India.
Until now, MFIs have focused mainly on building the asset side of the business, serving
the unbanked population in the country; however, after beginning banking
operations, they can open branches and build their retail liability franchise.
Most of the SFBs are focusing on a) building branch network for garnering retail
liabilities, b) diversifying their loan book and c) making best use of technology to
reduce cost of operations. According to the panelists, HR and adjusting to new
regulations remain the key concerns.
Mr. P.N. Vasudevan
(Equitas Holdings)
Mr. Sanjay Agarwal
(Au Financiers)
Mr. V.S. Radhakrishnan
(Janalakshmi Financial
Services)
Mr. Baskar Babu
(Suryoday
Microfinance)
Mr. Samit Ghosh
(Ujjivan Financial
Services)
Alpesh Mehta
(Alpesh.Mehta@MotilalOswal.com);
+91 22 3982 5415/ Sunesh Khanna (Sunesh.Khanna@MotilalOswal.com); 91 22 3982 5521
Krishnan ASV
(A.Krishnan@MotilalOswal.com); +9122 30102603/Rahul
Gupta
(Rahul.PGupta@MotilalOswal.com); +9122 39825505
September 2016
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Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
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