Microfinance

Microfinance loan book shrinks by 3.7% sequentially to Rs 4.08 trn in Sep

However, the GLP grew by 8.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 4.08 trillion in September 2024, up from Rs 3.76 trillion in September 2023

MFIN to further tighten norms for micro-loans from January 2025

Reduces MFIs per borrower to three from four

SME, microfinance stress to add pressure on IIFL's asset quality: Fitch

Affirms IIFL Finance's long-term rating; removes from rating watch negative

Bumps on MFI road: Microfinance biz turns cautious as delinquencies rise

Business correspondents have helped deepen banking penetration in the nearly two decades they have been around. Can they play a role on the field for MFIs?

Microlenders under RBI lens for 'netting off' loans; all you need to know

During its FY24 annual inspection of banks and NBFCs, the RBI flagged concerns regarding the widespread use of 'netting off' in microfinance loans

Spandana Sphoorty plunges 16% on weak Q2 results; tanks 69% from 52-wk high

The microfinance lender suffered a consolidated loss of Rs 216 crore in the second quarter ended September 2024 (Q2FY25) due to higher credit cost due to an increase in delinquencies

Microfinance institutions must refrain from reckless lending: DFS secretary

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have played a crucial role in fostering financial inclusion but they should refrain from any reckless lending, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said on Wednesday. "We should all be careful on this. Any reckless or poor underwriting norms regarding lending to Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) will only harm the sector," he said at an event organised by Sa-Dhan here. Anything that will impact their capacity to repay back will actually harm MFIs, he said. "So, we should be very careful in what we lend, when we lend and how we lend because their financial literacy is limitedtheir exposure to the outside world is limited. We should not capitalize on that. We should actually try to empower them, provide the needed finance and also ensure hand holding so that they flourish," he said. Nagaraju said under the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, there are more than 77 lakh groups with Rs 2.6 lakh crore outstanding loans benefitting about

RBI cracks down on shadow banks over high-interest loans, rule violations

The Reserve Bank of India ordered four shadow banks to stop sanctioning new loans because of high interest rate charges to customers

MFIN to review compliance of its members with norms on indebtedness

Stock-taking in November to include cap on number of lenders per borrower

Microfinance body MFIN tightens underwriting guidelines for members

The microfinance industry's self-regulatory body MFIN on Tuesday announced that it has tightened loan underwriting guidelines for its members amid concerns about over-indebtedness among the borrowers. Micro Finance Industry Network (MFIN) said the revised guidelines take care of current challenges in lending, wherein a lender does not get data on monthly outflows from a household on account of previous loans or even the 'bullet repayments' wherein money is paid at the end of a loan period. Microlenders are carrying out varying practices at present, and hence, MFIN has issued the guidelines to ensure "uniformity in the treatment", and help lenders to have a robust underwriting policy dealing with cases of bullet repayments/missing EMIs. The body, however, did not elaborate on the exact steps undertaken. It can be noted that there have been concerns around over-indebtedness among MFI borrowers, wherein a single borrower has been given over five loans in many cases. Some of the indus

Piramal Capital and Housing Finance eyeing to double retail AUM in 3 years

To enter gold loans, microfinance loans, and co-branded card segment; Co. to tap the dollar bond market soon

Microfinance growth driven more by lenders' loan disbursement than demand

Borrowers are being chased by different kinds of lenders -- universal banks, small finance banks, NBFCs, MFIs and fintechs

Growth and credit cost concerns mar microfinance sector prospects

The rapid growth in AUM in the last two years may have led to potential over-leverage by borrowers

MSME loan portfolio expands 17.8% to Rs 64.1 trillion in FY24: Report

During the financial year 2024, a total of 27.4 million MSME loans were sanctioned, amounting to Rs 54.2 trillion. This marks a growth of 19.3% in volume and 5.4% in value

Insights and social preferences: What microfinance can teach economists

Mainstream economics has largely dismissed the insights from microfinance as folksy, feel-good anecdotes

Uptick in auto demand, improvement in microfinance likely: L&T Finance

L&T Finance on Wednesday said it is expecting a decent uptick in automobile demand during the festive season on the back of good monsoon and is hopeful of a reasonable improvement in the microfinance segment in the second half of the current fiscal. "Of late, there are reports that the auto industry is seeing some slowdown, but I am very hopeful that on the back of good monsoon that we see, I think during the festive period, we will see a decent uptick both in terms of two-wheelers as well as four-wheelers," L&T finance Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sudipta Roy told PTI. Speaking on the sideline of the three-day Global Fintech Festival, Roy said in terms of loan disbursements, overall, the two-wheeler segment is doing very well, adding that, "post Diwali, the demand has been relatively robust. We have been seeing ... our disbursements going somewhere between 15-20 depending upon the region." Stating that the microfinance industry is currently going through a ...

Micro loans grow 27% in March quarter, stress levels inch up: Report

The micro loans portfolio of various lenders grew by 27 per cent year-on-year for the March 2024 quarter, a report said on Tuesday. After remaining stable or improving over the last many quarters, the stress levels in terms of loan default inched up marginally during the quarter, the report by credit information company Crif High Mark said. At a time when the regulator is flagging concerns on unsecured loans, the data pointed out that personal loan outstandings of microfinance borrowers witnessed the second fastest growth among other retail assets with a portfolio growth of over 38 per cent. The gross loan portfolio grew 28 per cent to Rs 4.42 lakh crore in December, the report said, adding that the growth was 8.5 per cent as compared to the preceding December quarter figure. The top 10 states account for 83.5 per cent of the Gross Loan Portfolio (GLP), it said, adding that West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh posted the fastest growth during the January-March period. However, the

Microfinance loans up 24.5% to Rs 4.3 trn in FY24, NBFC-MFIs see moderation

The total loan accounts rose to 149 million at the end of March 2024 from 130 million a year ago

A rethink on priority sector norms for SFBs can be helpful: ASFBI CEO

The Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India (FY23) notes that some microfinance institutions among SFBs earlier retained their business models

No of MFI loans extended by lenders dips in Q2, average ticket sizes grow

The number of microfinance loans extended by all lenders declined in the September quarter, but an increase in the average ticket sizes helped in the quantum of lending to grow, a report said on Tuesday. The industry's self-regulatory body Microfinance Industry Network (MFIN) said the overall loan portfolio grew to Rs 3,76,110 crore at the end of September, up from Rs 3,55,977 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 3,00,974 crore in the year-ago period. The financiers made loans of Rs 76,054 crore in the September quarter as compared to Rs 71,916 crore in the year-ago period, but the number of loans declined to 1.69 crore from 1.81 crore. The average loan size increased to Rs 45,124 at the end of September as against Rs 39,725 in the year-ago period, and Rs 43,298 in the quarter-ago period, the report said. MFIN's chief executive and director Alok Misra said the industry added 1.9 crore unique borrowers in the first six months of the new fiscal, helping the wider agenda of financial