Bandhan gets bank licence from RBI; to launch ops on Aug 23

Micro lender Bandhan today said it has received <g data-gr-id="10">licence</g> from RBI to start a full-fledged bank and will debut in August with up to 600 branches focusing on retail and small businesses segments.

“We have received the final bank licence from RBI today and will be starting operations with 500-600 branches on August 23,” Bandhan Financial Services’ director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh told reporters here. The company, which along with infra lender IDFC was given in-principle nod last year to enter universal banking, has named it as “Bandhan Bank” and will focus on its strengths in retail and micro 

enterprises in unbanked or under-banked rural areas for the bank, he said.

Its entire current operations, including a network of 2,200 offices across 22 states, over 17,000 employees, 66 lakh customers and a loan book of Rs 10,000 crore, will be part of the bank from day one, he said. The 500-600 branches will be freshly set-up and the 2,200 offices will act as door step service centres, he said, adding that 200 of the branches will be in metro and urban areas, and the rest will be in semi-urban and rural areas.