 "ICICI home loan portfolio crosses Rs 1 lakh cr")
Home loan disbursals at ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector lender, have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore. It’s the first private bank to cross this threshold.
Rajiv Sabharwal, executive director, said several steps it had taken had all helped. Such as taking home loans to smaller towns, making applications easier for borrowers, offering doorstep services and disbursing loans quickly.
“In our journey through the years, we embarked on many initiatives. We introduced a whole new range of products, built a wider distribution network and leveraged on technological advancements like Tab Banking. As a result...we have crossed the milestone of disbursing over Rs 1 lakh crore of mortgage loans in a profitable manner, with the lowest delinquency in the industry,” he added.
Retail (to individuals) loans accounted for 44 per cent of the total book at the end of September 2015, of which home loans’ share was 55 per cent. The average size of a home loan is Rs 35-36 lakh.
Sabharwal added it made sense for them to focus on mortgages, as it had a low risk weightage, large volumes and low delinquency. “It also allows us to build a long-term relationship with the customer, which helps us in cross-selling products.”
To further expand the home loan portfolio, it has launched two new services regarding mortgages, on the digital platform. A ‘home loan express’ will allow approval via the digital platform in only eight hours. This is available for all salaried individuals, including non-ICICI Bank customers.
The second new digital service will allow consumers to avail part- disbursement of home loans for under-construction projects by applying through the bank’s ‘iLoans’ mobile application. For this, the customer will have to download the ‘iLoan’ app, scan and upload the demand letter from the builder and proof of own contribution. “We want to leverage our technology, as it has been one of our strengths, and we want to build on it. We believe these initiatives will bring simplicity to the home loan process, while delivering solutions at a never-seen-before speed,” added Sabharwal.
He added the bank had also seen robust growth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and in the affordable housing segment. While the real estate market in metro cities is growing annually at 25 per cent, the growth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities is 30 per cent.
