NS Vageesh / K Ram Kumar
State Bank of India is planning to venture into the digital lending space, targeting the housing, consumer and small and medium enterprise segments in a big way in FY2019, according to a top official.
As retail and SME loan products are generally standard (parameterised), digital platform suits such loans well, said Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI.
“We will introduce digital loans this year...We are building an ecosystem whereby through your mobile you should be able to take a housing loan right up to the disbursement stage.
“...You can also select the house – we will give you a choice of, maybe, 5,000-6,000 SBI-approved projects across the country. So, starting from house selection and right up to loan disbursement will become digital,” Kumar told BusinessLine .
Facilities
Last financial year, India’s largest bank had launched pre-approved personal loan on the YONO (you need only one app) mobile platform (a banking super store on mobile), overdraft facility for purchases through online shopping websites, and ‘Insta’ credit top-up loan on Xpress credit on the internet banking platform. It has established a ‘online customer acquisition solution’, enabling customers to apply for car loans online.
“For retail, we have to get our channel strategy right. This we are doing with more and more emphasis placed on digital and alternative channels. Product refinements keep on happening depending on the market needs.
“As far as our retail reach goes, we have a very wide footprint in the country. Our distribution reach – more than 23,000 branches, 58,000 customer service points and 5-crore internet banking customers – is unmatched. We are well entrenched in the digital and payment space. So, going forward, retail will be a game of technology,” explained the SBI chief.
Kumar underscored that his bank is using technology for lead generation. “We have a customer base of 43 crore. So, using data analytics, we want to drive more value out of this huge customer base.”