Small Finance Banks in India

Why in news?

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has received applications from two more entities — Cosmea Financial Holdings Private Ltd. and Tally Solutions Private Ltd. — seeking licences to operate Small Finance Banks (SFBs).
• This is as per RBI’s guidelines for ‘on tap’ licensing of small finance banks in the private sector.
• With this, a total of six entities have applied for the licence.
• The other four applicants who were named in April 2021 are VSoft Technologies Private Ltd., Calicut City Service Co-operative Bank Ltd., Akhil Kumar Gupta, and Dvara Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services Private Ltd.

Local Area Banks: An experiment with Small Banks

• In India, where extending banking services to the underserved and unserved sections of the population is a challenge, there is merit in considering access to bank credit and services through the expansion of small banks in unbanked and under-banked regions.
• In India, an experiment with small banks was taken up following an announcement made by the then Finance Minister in the Union Budget in August 1996 and the RBI issued guidelines for setting up of Local Area Banks (LABs) vide its Press Release dated August 24, 1996.
• The LABs were conceived as low-cost structures which would provide efficient and competitive financial intermediation services in a limited area of operation, i.e., primarily in rural and semi-urban areas.
• LABs were required to have a minimum capital of Rs. 5 crores and an area of operation comprising three contiguous districts. Presently, four LABs are functioning satisfactorily.
• Taking into account the above and that small finance banks can play an important role in the supply of credit to micro and small enterprises, agriculture and banking services in unbanked and under-banked regions in the country, the RBI has decided to licence new “small finance banks” in the private sector.
• While permitting small banks, however, the issues relating to their size, capital requirements, area of operations, exposure norms, regulatory prescriptions, corporate governance and resolution need to be suitably addressed in the light of experience gained.

Hence RBI has come out with the following guidelines for licensing small finance banks in the private sector.

Objectives

• The objectives of setting up of small finance banks will be to further financial inclusion by provision of savings vehicles, and
• supply of credit to small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and other unorganised sector entities, through high technology-low cost operations.

Eligible promoters

• Resident individuals/professionals with 10 years of experience in banking and finance;
• Companies and societies owned and controlled by residents will be eligible to set up small finance banks.
• Existing Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), and Local Area Banks (LABs) that are owned and controlled by residents can also opt for conversion into small finance banks.
• Promoter/promoter groups should be ‘fit and proper with a sound track record of professional experience or of running their businesses for at least a period of five years in order to be eligible to promote small finance banks.

Scope of activities

• The small finance bank shall primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to unserved and underserved sections including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities.
• There will not be any restrictions in the area of operations of small finance banks.

Capital requirement

• The minimum paid-up equity capital for small finance banks shall be Rs. 100 crore.

Promoter's contribution

• The promoter's minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital of such a small finance bank shall at least be 40 per cent and gradually brought down to 26 per cent within 12 years from the date of commencement of business of the bank.

Foreign shareholding

• The foreign shareholding in the small finance bank would be as per the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for private sector banks as amended from time to time.

Prudential norms

• The small finance bank will be subject to all prudential norms and regulations of RBI as applicable to existing commercial banks including requirement of maintenance of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR). No forbearance would be provided for complying with the statutory provisions.
• The small finance banks will be required to extend 75 per cent of their Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) to the sectors eligible for classification as priority sector lending (PSL) by the Reserve Bank.
• At least 50 per cent of its loan portfolio should constitute loans and advances of up to Rs. 25 lakh.

Procedure for RBI decisions

• An External Advisory Committee (EAC) comprising eminent professionals like bankers, chartered accountants, finance professionals, etc., will evaluate the applications.
• The decision to issue an in-principle approval for setting up of a bank will be taken by the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank’s decision in this regard will be final.
• The validity of the in-principle approval issued by the Reserve Bank will be eighteen months.
• The names of applicants for bank licences will be placed on the Reserve Bank’s website.

Operational SFBs in India

Some of the operational Small Finance Banks in India are as follows.

• Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.
• Janalakshmi Small Finance Bank.
• Equitas Small Finance Bank.
• A U Small Finance Bank.
• Capital Small Finance Bank.
• ESAF Small Finance Bank.
• Utkarsh Small Finance Bank.
• Suryoday Small Finance Bank.
• Fincare Small Finance Bank.