Fincare SFB brings digital banking services to rural India

By Leandra Monteiro

Fincare Small Finance Bank Limited takes the first step in introducing community banking to its core customer segment spread across 38,809 villages. This new initiative will help customers with a seamless banking experience right at their doorstep.

The community banking initiative will support the bank’s mission to promote financial inclusion, ensure easy access to financial services and strengthen its relationship with existing loan customers, by becoming a provider of comprehensive banking services. “Fincare Mitra” shall serve as a Customer Service Point (CSP), offering the community a wide range of banking services.

In principle, community banking is about treating rural customers as a cohort having its unique financial cycles thus requiring bespoke solutions such as:

• Providing a basic bouquet of financial services like savings and loan products, life, health and non-life insurance, old-age pension and need-based investment solutions.
• Establishing an effective digital banking infrastructure that is simple, safe and secure
• Developing literacy and livelihood support for entrepreneurial skills, knowledge of basic financial products, basic digital transactions, as well as rights and responsibilities as a customer.

This initiative is designed to minimise the need to travel long distances for availing banking services and replace it with a relationship-led neighbourhood banking ecosystem.

Rajeev Yadav, MD and CEO of Fincare Small Finance Bank, stated regarding the initiative, “Fincare SFB has always strived to make its customers feel at ease. The Community Banking project is our contribution to this goal. We hope that by doing so, we shall be able to provide most common banking services to our rural communities in a streamlined and hassle-free manner using digital”.

Fincare Small Finance Bank, a “digital-first” SFB is focussed on unbanked and under-banked consumers, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. It offers its banking services through banking outlets, ATM, WhatsApp, Mobile and Internet Banking and chatbots. In May 2021, Fincare SFB submitted preliminary paperwork to SEBI for its Initial Public Offering (IPO).