RBI examining relaxing Bad Loan Classification Limit beyond 90 days for SMEs

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is looking into a request to extend the classification period for non-performing assets (NPAs) to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“Some people have made representation to the finance ministry of raising the NPA classification period beyond existing 90 days. This issue is under consideration. It is being examined by the RBI,” Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told newswire PTI.

 

Summary
  • RBI looking at request to raise the NPA classification period beyond the current level.
  • Currently, an account turns into NPA or bad loan if it is not serviced for 90 days.
  • In case of small businesses and SMEs, payments come usually late.

Currently, an account turns into a non-performing asset (NPA) or bad loan if it is not serviced for 90 days.In case of small businesses and SMEs, payments come usually late. Once they miss the 90-day period and fall in the NPA category, their credit line is cut.

In the absence of vibrant factoring or trade receivable market, small businesses and SMEs face the issue of timely credit availability. Meghwal also said that there is a need to strengthen loan restructuring mechanism in an effort to tackle inflation.

Loan restructuring is reviewed by the RBI from time to time as part of its effort to fight the mounting NPAs in the banking system.

Most recently, the minister said, the government brought in an ordinance giving wide-ranging legislative powers to the Reserve Bank to fight NPAs.

The ordinance authorises RBI to issue directions to any bank to initiate insolvency resolution process in the event of a default under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.

As per some estimates, banks are sitting on unrecognised stressed loans worth Rs 7.7 lakh crore in corporate and SME sectors and expect around 35 per cent of them to slip into the NPA category in the next 12-18 months.

There is a likelihood of Rs 2.6 lakh crore of corporate and SME loans, which are 3.2 per cent of total bank credit to be recognised as stressed loans by 2019.

Stressed loans include restructured assets that carry the risk of turning into NPAs.

Source: https://www.bloombergquint.com/law-and-policy/2017/06/13/rbi-examining-relaxing-bad-loan-classification-limit-beyond-90-days-for-smes

Bandhan Bank reports FY17 profit at Rs1,111.95 crore

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Bandhan Bank’s net interest income stood at Rs 2,403.50 crore in the financial year 2017

Bandhan Bank on Thursday reported a net profit of Rs1,111.95 crore for the financial year that ended on 31 March. A comparable year-ago figure wasn’t available because the lender started operations only in August 2015.

Net interest income, or the core income a bank earns by giving loans, was Rs2,403.50 crore. Gross advances were Rs23,543.29 crore and deposits stood at Rs23,229 crore.

Current and savings accounts at the end of the March quarter made up 29.43% of deposits. Bandhan Bank’s capital adequacy ratio, an indicator of financial strength expressed as a ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets, was 26.36%. The bank has 840 branches and 10.5 million customers.

Bandhan Bank, which converted from a microfinance institution to a full-fledged lender, kept its focus on borrowers who make up more than 90% of its loan book. Going forward, the bank intends to diversify into affordable housing and loans to micro enterprises.

According to Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, founding managing director and chief executive officer of Bandhan Bank, deposit and credit growth for the bank will continue to grow at 30%.

In the financial year 2016-17, the bank sold inter-bank participatory certificates worth Rs6,704.21 crore, which helped the bank boost its net interest margin.

The net interest margin, the difference between the rate a bank charges for loans and pays for deposits, for the year was close to 10%.

Under the inter-bank participatory certificates arrangement, banks can sell a part of their portfolio to other banks that are short of their targets for lending to the priority sector that includes agriculture and small businesses.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/Companies/SQyBR1lyNbg2sKNrL42ELM/Bandhan-Bank-reports-FY17-profit-at-Rs111195-crore.html

Small loans, big impact: Microfinance now big business at banks

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High margins and volumes are two reasons why banks are exploring the market in thrift credit

From being passive lenders to microfinance institutions (MFIs) till about five years earlier, banks have turned out to be active players in the business of small loans.

 

As on end-December 2016, banks accounted for 37 per cent (Rs 36,683 crore) of microfinance portfolio of Rs 98,625 crore; five years earlier, a handful of MFIs accounted for more than half.

 

High margins and volumes are two reasons why banks are exploring the market in thrift credit.
Most of them in MFI lending are private sector ones. A majority of this portfolio is with 11 banks — Axis, Bandhan, DCB, Equitas, HDFC, ICICI, IDFC, Kotak Mahindra, RBL and YES.

 

This apart, several public sector banks have increased their MFI exposure, through business correspondents (BCs).

 

“We see a lot of synergies with the microfinance sector. More, it is quite well-regulated and growing at a fast rate, providing a lot of business opportunities,” said an official in charge of a bank’s microfinance operations.

 

Also, over the past 18 months, banks have also been aggressive in taking equity stakes in MFIs. Last year, Kotak Mahindra Bank acquired Bengaluru-based BSS Microfinance.

 

chart

RBL acquired 10 per cent in Utkarsh Micro Finance, which recently graduated into a small finance bank (SFB).

 

In July last year, IDFC Bank acquired Trichy-based Grama Vidiyal Microfinance, its second deal in the MFI space. Earlier, IDFC had taken 10 per cent in east-based ASA International India Microfinance.

 

In March last year, DCB Bank had acquired a 5.81 per cent stake in Odisha-based Annapurna Microfinance. Earlier, RBL had acquired 30 per cent in Swadhaar FinServe, a company acting as a BC.

 

Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) have also shown interest. In 2015, Manappuram Finance had acquired Asirvad Micro Finance, a Chennai-based NBFC-MFI.

 

With a number of MFIs graduating to SFBs, the number in the MFI space is likely to further increase. And, even after graduating into a bank, they are likely to keep much of their lending to microfinance. Bandhan Bank, earlier an MFI, has even after close to two years into operation as a bank still got over 80 per cent of its lending portfolio concentrated in microfinance.

 

“Over the past three years, banks have shown a high level of interest in microfinance, part of a diversification strategy. Also, at least for two to three years, the new SFBs are likely to focus on microfinance as they build their deposit base,” says Ratna Vishwanathan, chief executive officer, Microfinance Institutions Network.

 

Seven of the proposed SFBs, some of which have transformed to a bank, together account for 46 per cent of the MFI portfolio, amounting to Rs 26,228 crore.

 

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/small-loans-big-impact-microfinance-now-big-business-at-banks-117031300020_1.html

Gujarat’s foray into B2B ecommerce gives big push to small units

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Gujarat government has entered into B2B ecommerce space as it allowed UK-based cloudbuy.com to develop B2B marketplace for accelerating its growth in state business by supporting SMEs and larger organisations via digitalisation.

According to a top official from the industry department, the state plans to give a digital push to the SMEs and large organisations from Gujarat via Business to Business (B2B) ecommerce.

However, Dhananjay Dwivedi, secretary, department of science and technology, Government of Gujarat, said the company had entered into a MoU with the state government.

“Any other ecommerce company that can support business in Gujarat can also come” he added.”With B2B trading opportunities being much bigger and faster now, the businesses of Gujarat will immensely benefit both in terms of revenue growth and reaching out to a far wider audience here in India and globally,” said Nilesh Gopali, cloudBuy, Country Head – India.

He also confirmed that cloudBuy.com has not received any exclusivity from the state government for developing state-focused B2B ecommerce platform.

According to the company, the creation of this new emarketplace will create many jobs within Gujarat through the creation of technical centres to help businesses upload and optimise their content.

Each company that registers for the marketplace will be given the opportunity to list their company details along with products and services online, promoting their business to a much wider audience. cloudBuy.com would also provide full access to support system and reporting to maximise their growth through ecommerce sales.

It would also provide fulfillment services like logistics providers and financial institutions through partners on the platform making it easier for businesses to transact. Accessibility for all users through cell phones on a secure platform will enhance the user experience ensuring trades online.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/57611242.cms

Demonetisation: Amidst cash chaos Fintech startup Capital Float opens its coffers for small merchants

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Advertisement The fintech startups has partnered with Point of Sale (PoS) card machine vendors to provide merchants quick and easy access to loans. (Reuters)

Amidst cash chaos and consequent surge in digital payment due to government’s demonetisation drive, a Bangalore based digital lending firm for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Capital Float has decided to offer quick and easy loans to small merchants.

The fintech startups has partnered with Point of Sale (PoS) card machine vendors to provide merchants quick and easy access to loans.

Under this offer, any merchant who is using the services of vendors like Mswipe, Petpooja, ICICI Merchant Services, MRL Postnet, Bijlipay and Pine Labs for transations would be eligible for upto 200% finance on sales from their card machines. The merchant would be able to repay the loan as nominal percentage of their daily card settlements.

Capital Float, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) has a product called ‘Merchant Cash Advance’ which is targeted towards any merchant that accepts cards payment in exchange of the goods and services. The company underwrites such borrowers according to their monthly card sales and offers loans up to twice the amount of their average monthly card sales.

With the increase in card transactions due to demonetisation, company is expecting a surge for its Merchant Cash Advance offering. According to company officials, with the increase in card transactions, now more number of merchants will qualify under the loan criteria and also avail larger loan amounts as compared to the past.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/demonetisation-amidst-cash-chaos-fintech-startup-capital-float-opens-its-coffers-for-small-merchants/458261/

India’s microfinance industry clocked 60% growth in fiscal 2016: Report

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After years of subdued growth, the Indian microfinance (MFI) industry expanded more than 60% to Rs54,329 crore in 2015-16 compared to the previous year, according to a report prepared by Sa-Dhan, the self regulatory organisation of MFIs.

The MFI client base expanded by 2.8 million in the year, taking the total number of clients to 39.9 million, said the report. This growth was despite the fact that Bandhan, which was the largest MFI, moved out of the space to become a full fledged bank.

The top 10 MFIs classified as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) accounted for about 80% of the total gross loan value, the report said. They include Janalakshmi Financial Services Ltd, Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd and SKS Microfinance Ltd.

“Attaining over 28 lakh clients is no mean feat. This goes on to show that the microfinance industry, having reached its inflection point, is growing steadfastly,” P. Sathish, executive director of Sa-Dhan, said.

The MFI sector experienced a crisis after Andhra Pradesh, the biggest market for small loans made to the unbanked poor and self-employed, in 2010 clamped down on micro lenders.

The state government tightened regulations governing MFIs after reports surfaced that coercive loan recovery practices by the lenders had driven some overextended borrowers to commit suicide. That led to a shrinking of the asset base of the microfinance industry and a surge in bad loans.

Of the total client base of 39.9 million, the southern region alone contributed to 39% of the total client base. Kerala and Karnataka now have the maximum number of MFI branches.

The growth in this sector is also due to Reserve Bank of India allowing many NBFC-MFIs to act as banking correspondents (BCS) connecting commercial banks with customers in small towns and rural areas.

“The MFIs are finding the BC model rather attractive on the credit side,” Sathish added.

The report also claims that 94% of the total loans taken from MFIs are for income generating activities, dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/Industry/4Zb0zp5yOh0toqEdBFz4jL/Indias-microfinance-industry-clocked-60-growth-in-fiscal-2.html

In just 5 months, MUDRA lends over Rs. 42,000 crore & invests Rs 203 crore in securitisation deals

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Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency (MUDRA) has recently closed its fourth deal with a total book of over Rs 203 crore, five months after it stepped into the securitisation market.

It has invested Rs 100 crore in two securitisation deals with Janalakshmi Financial Services and another Rs 50 crore in Satin Credit Care. It has also invested Rs 53 crore in SK Financial Services, a Jaipur-headquartered NBFC through a securitisation deal.

“We are directly investing in pass through certificates either as junior or senior investor,” Jiji Mammen, CEO, MUDRA, said.”All our investments are in healthy loan portfolios that will fetch us good yields.”

The coupon rates for all the securitisation deals are between 9.5 per cent and 10 per cent and the average yield for all assets was around 22 per cent, according to Mammen. Securitisation allows companies to provide part of their loan books and its receivables as guarantee to financial institutions. MUDRA was established as a subsidiary of Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) by PM Narendra Modi in April this year. The agency was set up with an initial corpus of Rs 5,000 crore to provide capital to all banks seeking refinancing of small business loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna.

MUDRA’s latest attempt is to provide support to NBFCs and MFIs so that they in turn finance micro enterprises by participating in securitisation of their loan assets. It provides second loss default guarantee for credit enhancement and participates in investment of Pass through Certificate as senior or junior investor.

In the past five months, MUDRA has disbursed Rs 42,000 crore, one fourth of its total annual target of Rs 1,80,000 crore. The lending agency’s disbursals nearly doubled in the past two months to about Rs 27,000 crore from the Rs 15,000 crore it disbursed in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

MUDRA has given loans of over Rs 1.3 lakh crore to 35 million borrowers. About 35 per cent of the total loans sanctioned last year were disbursed by MFIs. Among 45 per cent of the total loans disbursed by PSUs, 20 per cent was disbursed by SBI alone while 23 per cent was disbursed by private banks.

Of the planned disbursement of Rs 1.8 lakh crore this fiscal year, public sector banks would disburse Rs 77,700 crore, followed by Rs 21,000 crore by private and foreign banks, Rs 15,000 crore by regional rural banks, and Rs 64,240 crore by MFIs.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/54286037.cms