Yono to come in handy while setting up Bharat Craft: SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar

The digital transformation in SBI has been on for some time and the Yono platform will celebrate its third anniversary in November.

State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar said on Wednesday the Yono app has equipped it with significant data that would help run the business-to-business (B2B) portal Bharat Craft.

The app has been registering 70,000 users on a daily basis and now has 27 million registered users, Kumar added.

“We are now preparing a B2B platform called Bharat Craft and the work has started. The vision is that we will bring together all MSMEs and businesses on this platform with an on-the-spot facility to finance the receivables,” Kumar said, speaking at an event organised by ET BFSI.

SBI is using the data from Yono to offer pre-approved personal and business loans. Irrespective of whether the bank is open or closed, almost Rs 70-80 crore worth of loans are being disbursed daily, including weekends, the chairman said.

The investment in YONO has come in handy and the app is profitable in the sense that the bank is getting “a decent IRR (internal rate of return)” on it. Referring to Yono as the biggest start-up by a legacy bank, Kumar said, “Since it is sitting in the bank that does not get reflected in my valuations. I always say that if it was sitting outside, my valuation would be alike to what start-ups get.”

The digital transformation in SBI has been on for some time and the Yono platform will celebrate its third anniversary in November. “So, within three years we have created a fantastic platform where we cater not only to the banking needs of the users but also their investment needs along with online shopping experience. We are providing a one-stop shop,” Kumar said. After the outbreak of Covid-19, the rate of new users on Yono has increased, he said. People are conscious about the security aspect while using digital platforms and the trust factor associated with SBI has helped Yono on this count.