ESAF kicks off operations in Mumbai

• Crosses 1000 crore deposit
• Plans to open 145 new branches by March 2018

Mumbai, Nov 22, 2017: ESAF Small Finance Bank, the first bank from Kerala to win a banking license since independence, is all set to open its first branch in the metro city of Mumbai, on Nov 22, 2017.  With an aim to build a pan India presence, ESAF bank will open 145 new banking outlets by March next year.

Speaking at a press conference organised, Mr. K. Paul Thomas, Managing Director and CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank said, “The banking outlet at Mumbai, Andheri East is the 60th outlet opened by ESAF, since it started operations in March this year. He also said that ESAF has presence in Maharashtra since 2004, with 33 micro banking outlets, especially in the Vidharbha region.”

Currently, ESAF Small Finance Bank has 370 banking outlets including the 60 new retail banking outlets covering 10 states in India. In the coming months, the bank plans to open more number of outlets in the states where we already have presence and will be soon expanding to the North East as well.

“We need to brand as a pan India bank and hence we have decided to open branches in all metro cities in India. A few more branches are coming in Mumbai soon along with other metros like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi, followed by Calcutta”, Mr. Thomas added.

So far, the bank has crossed Rs 1000 crore deposit within seven months of operations. It hopes to garner a total of Rs 2500 crore deposit by the end of this fiscal. At the end of the second quarter, ESAF has a cumulative business of over 6,000 crore.

The bank offers a host of modern banking services like ATMs, Debit Card, Safe Deposit Lockers, Internet banking, and mobile banking, SMS banking, RTGS, NEFT and CTS etc. The door step delivery services, SKYPE facility at branches and Hrudaya Deposit Scheme are some of the exclusive features offered by ESAF Small Finance Bank.

Hrudaya deposit scheme, as the name suggests, stands for a social cause, through which, ESAF Bank provides the customers an opportunity to be a part in economic development of the bottom of the pyramid, which is a unique offering from ESAF Small Finance Bank.

Since 1992, ESAF as a financial institution has transformed the lives of 1.8 million families spreading across ten states in India covering the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Pondicherry and Jharkhand. It received an in-principle approval from the RBI in Oct 2015 for setting up a Small Finance Bank and the bank was launched on March 10, 2017.

 The 350 plus outlets of the bank is spread across almost 100 districts with a significant and dedicated workforce. The developmental activities of the bank is spread across the areas of education, health, environment, sustainable energy and various other channels for rural empowerment.

About ESAF Small Finance Bank 

The journey of ESAF began in a small house named ‘Little’ at Thrissur in 1992. Contrary to what the name sounds, ESAF Society was launched with a bigger vision of sustainable holistic transformation of the poor and the marginalized. The success of Grameen bank in Bangladesh reinforced the vision of K. Paul Thomas the Founder and Managing Director of ESAF. In1995, he launched Micro Enterprises Development (MED) services and it resulted in the formation of ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt. Ltd., in 2008. The increased focus on microfinance was inevitable as the founder was clear in his understanding of the importance of financial component in holistic economic development of the poor. Gradually, ESAFMicrofinance earned its place among the top ten Microfinance institutions in India.

In 2015, the Reserve Bank of India, the financial regulator in the country has granted in-principle license to ESAF to launch a Small Finance bank. ESAF Small Finance Bank was one amongst the ten NBFCs to receive an ‘in principle’ approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a Small Finance Bank in the private sector. In November 2016, the final license was issued by the RBI. ESAF Small Finance Bank was incorporated on May 05, 2016, with its registered office in Thrissur.