Bengaluru-based Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) will convert some 200 of its NBFC branches into small banks by the end of this fiscal while the rest will gradually switch in the next two years.
"We have about 457 (NBFC) branches and we have a year- by-year strategy. I think by the end of third year, all of our 457 branches will be converted into full-fledged liability branches. So, this year, a little less than 200 branches will be converted," Chief Marketing Officer Vijay Balakrishnan said.
Balakrishnan said the bank is offering fixed deposit starting with as low as Rs 1,000 and recurring with as low as Rs 100. Ujjivan SFB is seeing an increasing offtake for such products, he added.
Making the gradual shift, Ujjivan SFB opened five branches in Delhi today. It began small finance bank services in February with the opening of five branches in Bengaluru.
"On Friday, we are launching five branches in Kolkata. In the Western region, we will open branches in Pune. By September-October this year, we will have about 170 full- fledged small finance bank branches," Ittira Davis, Chief Operating Officer, Ujjivan SFB, said during an interaction.
Davis said the bank will add rural branches to its network in the upcoming fiscal as per the RBI mandate.
The selection of rural centres, he said, will be critical as they need to be support customers as well as be profitable for the company.
Speaking on the occasion, Ujjivan SFB MD and CEO Samit Ghosh said transformation into a small finance bank will empower the unserved and underserved customer segment with a full range of banking services.
"Our immediate objective is to reach out to the large unbanked populace in Delhi and get them into the formal banking system," Ghosh said.
Ujjivan SFB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NBFC firm Ujjivan Financial Services, which was granted small finance bank licence, along with nine other entities, by the Reserve Bank in September 2015.
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