RBI issues SFB licence to Centrum-BharatPe consortium

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has on Tuesday issued licence to the consortium of Centrum and BharatPe to set up a small finance bank (SFB). The lender, to be named Unity Small Finance Bank, will start operations in few weeks with atleast Rs 1,500 crore loan book.

This SFB will take over the beleaguered urban co-operative lender Punjab and Maharashtra Bank over period.

Jaspal Bindra, Chairman of BSE listed Centrum Capital, said with RBI issuing the license, the focus will shift to board formation and building top management team. The bank will become functional before close of calender 2021 and aspires to be India’s first digital bank.

The timing for integrating PMC would depend on when RBI and government release scheme of amalgamation, he said.

In June 2021, The RBI gave “in-principle” nod to Centrum Financial Services Ltd (CFSL) to set up the SFB.

Centrum will merge the SME lending business and micro-credit operations of group with the SFB at a consideration of Rs 426 crore. These businesses are run by two subsidiaries.

Jaspal Bindra-led Centrum Capital, the holding entity for CFSL, and its partner BharatPe, a payments system company, will infuse Rs 1,800 crore into the SFB. BharatPe will also move loan assets to Unity SFB.

The proposed business model is one of collaboration and open architecture, uniting all its stakeholders to deliver a seamless digital experience, Bindra said.

“We will work tirelessly and smartly to capture this opportunity and build India’s first truly Digital Bank ground up,” said Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder and Managing Director, BharatPe. While granting the in-principle nod on June 18, the RBI had said that the approval has been accorded in specific pursuance to the Centrum Financial Services’ February 1 offer expressing interest to take over PMC Bank.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor