The bank, however, did not provide any specific target for business through new vertical.
State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar on Friday said its newly-created vertical for agri customers would bring cost efficiency to the bank. The lender in July had created the Financial Inclusion and Micro Markets (FI&MM) vertical to improve customer experience in rural and semi-urban areas.
The existing 8,000 branches of the bank have been identified to work for this new vertical. Additionally, the vertical also has 64,000 customer service points (CSPs).
The vertical will offer loans predominantly for agriculture and micro/small enterprises. It will also provide services to the micro-segment, including micro-credit for small businesses and farmers through the branch network.
The bank aims to increase business due to a focused approach of this vertical. Kumar said existing 8,000 branches, which account for 40% of the bank’s network, were only contributing 16% to the business. “If this network is of the size of 40%, the size of the business should also go up without increasing any extra resources,” he said.
The bank, however, did not provide any specific target for business through new vertical. Kumar said that the potential of the bank’s business correspondents channel is yet to be fully explored. “Our target is to have 75,000 customer service points till March, 2021,” he said.
The FI&MM vertical comprises a four-tiered structure under chief general manager (CGM), general manager (GM), relationship managers (RMs) at regional business offices (RBO) and district sales hub. The bank aims to strengthen the credit delivery system and improve the turnaround time for quick sanctions and disbursement of small loans. Emphasis will be on consolidating the district-level presence, which will provide constant sales and recovery support to branches. “This will help us to focus and improve our synergy with government agencies and functionaries,” Kumar added.
The bank on Friday relocated its FI&MM vertical office from Mumbai to Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
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