SEBI CHAIRMAN MR. U.K. SINHA INAUGURATES BANDHAN BANK'sS 600th BRANCH IN MUMBAI

BANKING 

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, December 30, 2015: Shri U.K. Sinha, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), inaugurated Bandhan Bank's Prabhadevi branch in Mumbai. This is Bandhan Bank's 600^th branch in the country. Bandhan Bank commenced its operations on August 23, 2015, with 501 branches, 2,022 Door step Service Centres (DSCs) and 50 ATMs across 24 Indian states. The bank was inaugurated by Shri. Arun Jaitley, Hon'ble Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, in Kolkata at a grand function attended by regulators, policy makers and luminaries from financial sector and corporate India.

Bandhan is the first bank to be set up in eastern part of India post-Independence. Currently, Bandhan Bank operates across 27 Indian states through a network of 599 branches and 183 ATMs, being served by more than 20,000 employees. Since its launch, the bank has collected deposits to the tune of Rs. 4,700 crore catering to more than 8 million customers. It started with a loan book of around Rs 10,500 crore.

The Prabhadevi branch is Bandhan Bank’s 31^st branch across 11 districts in Maharashtra. It also has 106 Door step Service Centres (DSCs) operational in the state of Maharashtra. The Kolkata-headquartered bank has two divisions -- micro banking and general banking, offering complete retail financial solutions, including a variety of savings and loan products. Currently, the savings bank account interest rate is 4.25% for balance up to Rs.1 lakh and 5% for balance above Rs.1 lakh. For term deposits, the maximum interest rate offered is 8.5 % for one to three years, with an additional 0.5% for senior citizens.

The Reserve Bank of India's licensing norms stipulate that a new bank must have at least Rs 500 crore capital. Bandhan Bank started off with Rs 2,570 crore capital and this will soon be ramped up close to Rs 3,052 crore. This translates into more than 40% capital to risk weighted assets ratio or CRAR for the new bank, signifying its robustness.

About Bandhan Bank Ltd.

Bandhan Bank is the first instance in India of a microfinance entity transforming into a universal bank. It received the 'in-principle' approval from the RBI in April 2014 and the banking regulator's final nod came on June 17, 2015. Its public shareholders include among others International Finance Corporation (IFC), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and an arm of GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore. Bandhan made a humble beginning in 2001 as a not-for-profit microfinance enterprise with the idea of making a significant contribution towards alleviation of poverty by empowering women. It transformed itself into a non-banking finance company in 2006.

During the transformation phase, Bandhan  had appointed five specialized agencies -- Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd. as consultant for the banking project; FIS as the information technology (IT) partner; Aon Hewitt to design the human resources and compensation policy for employees; Madison Media for the advertising campaign; and Ogilvy & Mather to handle the brand-building exercise.

Bandhan Bank is driven by a constant desire to serve better. It seeks to offer its world-class banking products and services to urban, semi-urban and rural customers alike. While it has a pan India presence, the special focus remains on eastern and north-eastern part of India. It is a bank for all but the focus remains unchanged to meet the financial needs of people who are overlooked by the formal banking system and create better education, health care and self-employment opportunities. In sync with the philosophy of 'Apka Bhala, Sabki Bhalai' and keeping financial inclusion at the heart of it, Bandhan is committed to provide a host of products and services, competitively on a par with India's top private and state-owned banks.