In a first of its kind move in the micro-finance and financial-inclusion space, Bharat Financial Inclusion on Wednesday launched Aadhaar-based instant and cashless loan disbursal.

It took less than seven minutes for 30-year-old Guddi Devi to apply and receive ₹29,565 loan for a new grocery shop she intends to set up.

Bharat Financial has commenced national roll-out of the process beginning with loans to members of joint liability groups in this village, which is about 60 km from Jaipur.

“This is based on a pilot we conducted in Odisha during September-December 2016. The complete roll-out across all our locations in the country will be over by June 2017,” KV Rao, Chief Operating Officer, Bharat Financial Inclusion, told BusinessLine .

This is expected to benefit 66 lakh MUDRA loan beneficiaries nationally. The new process is based on adoption of digital technology with combined use of a tablet and dongle by loan officers for applicants with Aadhaar cards.

After Aadhaar-based verification of identity, e-KYC norms and eligibility of the applicant, including credit bureau data, the loan was processed and transferred instantly to Guddi Devi’s bank account.

The new process benefits all stakeholders. “We are happy as we need not lose our work hours for availing a loan,” said Kali who took a loan of ₹25,000 for buying a cow.

“There will be no need for borrowers to go to the bank to deposit loan money for keeping it safe,” she added.

Operational costs will come down for the lender. “We expect the cost-to-income ratio to fall to much less than 40 per cent in a couple of years,” said Rao.

The risk of fake customers too can be eliminated.

The technology upgradation is in line with the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, he added.

Related Topics