The Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) is making all efforts for the economic empowerment of women, especially those from the economically disadvantaged sections of the society, and that is the specific mandate given to the bank, according to Executive Director S MSwathi.
She was speaking here on Thursday morning after inaugurating a BMB branch, the first in the city and the fourth in Andhra Pradesh. She said the bank was in expansion mode and it would aim to cross the hundred-mark soon in the country.
Swathi said the bank, established in 2013 with a capital base of Rs 1,000 crore, was offering loans to women upto Rs 1 crore at the base rate and the processing fees was also being waived up to Rs 75 lakh for women.
"We are supporting all income-generating activities and encouraging women to become entrepreneurs. We are encouraging women to set up small and cottage units, and we are also tying up with NGOs and other organisations to extend loans to women and support their economic activities," she said.
She said, "We have given loans to women to run electronic-rickshaws in some cities. Women need not confine themselves to setting up beauty parlours, as so many other avenues are opening up in a growing economy. However, there is a need for promoting financial literacy among women and we are taking up those programmes as well."
She clarified that the bank was not only for women and men could also deposit their monies in the bank and avail themselves of the banking services. But when it comes to loaning, "women would be given preference. After all that is our basic objective. If a woman prospers, the whole family prospers. Men are also benefited indirectly."
She said the bank had made considerable progress in three years and it would strive to make its presence felt, especially in semi-urban and rural areas.