FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
BANDHAN BANK
GROUP 10
Badarinath Chappar, PGP-14-179
Ganesh G, PGP-14-185
Iha Bansal, PGP-14-109
Srishti Gupta, PGP-14-145
Bandhan Bank- Background:
Bandhan Bank is India’s largest Microfinance Company, founded in 2001. Its areas of focus have been women entrepreneurs, rural self-help groups and SMEs. It has a loan portfolio of 8000 Crores and has 6.2 million borrowers, spread across 22 states with 2000 plus branches. Its primary focus has been on Eastern and North Eastern states of the country. It is the newest bank to have received banking license from the Reserve bank of India and is scheduled to begin its operations in September, 2015.
A strategic roadmap for Bandhan in terms of:
Shift in strategy; Customer Segment; Newer products; Branding/ Marketing; Geographical to target; New Infrastructure and Talent
Shift in Strategy:
Bandhan’s primary customers have been from the lower middle classes from rural and semi- urban areas where traditional banking is yet to become popular. Bandhan’s new focus should be on expanding on the existing products that it had offered as a non-bank financial company to newer products using its new status as a bank. Bandhan’s primary focus as a bank should be financial inclusion which is in line with the objectives of the federal government. Bandhan can offer not just new bank accounts for everyone but can also offer credit to people who don’t have other sources. This type of inclusiveness should be Bandhan’s strategy.
Bandhan’s access to CASA deposits due to its status as bank gives it new source of funds and hence will help it lend credit to rural or new urban customers and urban women groups at even lower interest rates. This will reduce the reliance of Bandhan on bank borrowings. A key advantage of keeping these segments as focus is that Bandhan will have no problems with priority sector lending. As it expands, Bandhan needs to have separate strategy for its traditional base