 "Axis Bank")
Private lender Axis Bank on Thursday announced the launch of two lending products powered by the Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit (PTPFC), introduced by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH). RBIH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Axis Bank will offer Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and unsecured micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loans to customers powered by the platform. The central bank, last week, announced the launch of a pilot project for a public tech platform to facilitate credit through a "seamless flow of required digital information" to lenders.
The RBI had earlier in the week announced the launch of the PTPFC.
Both products will be offered in a completely digital manner and require no submission of documents by customers.
"As a pilot, Kisan Credit Cards will be offered in Madhya Pradesh and will be available to customers for up to Rs 1,60,000 to start with. MSME loans will be available across the country and will offer loans up to Rs 10 lakh to customers," the bank said in a statement.
As part of the pilot, Axis Bank will leverage the PTPFC to access customer data. These include PAN validation, Aadhaar eKYC, account aggregator data, verification of land records and penny drop service to validate bank accounts.
"Based on the learnings from this pilot, Axis Bank will expand the scale of existing products and launch new products on the platform in a calibrated manner. The products will be available in both self-serve and assisted mode to enable maximum reach and support to customers through the journey," it added.
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Rajiv Anand, deputy managing director at Axis Bank, said, "This platform will bring immense efficiency in the lending process in terms of reduction of costs, quicker disbursement, and scalability. Meaningful growth in India can be driven by expanding the credit fold, and we are happy to continue playing a role in helping millions of Indians fulfil their financial dreams and aspirations."
"Through the PTPFC, we will be able to access a variety of data required for underwriting directly from authenticated sources in a fully customer-consented and secure manner. Axis Bank is privileged to be one of the first banks to introduce products leveraging this platform, and we are very optimistic about its potential," said Sameer Shetty, president and head of Digital Banking and Transformation at Axis Bank added.
