Early in the evening, the Reserve Bank said that Unity SFB commenced operations with the first branch operating in the city.
12th Small Finance Bank commenced operations with an equity capital of over Rs 1,100 crore, over 2 lakh customers and an asset base of over Rs 2,400 crore, which comes from existing MSMEs. mfi credit business Jaspal Bindra, executive chairman of the group and non-executive chairman of Unity Bank, of Centrum Group, told PTI on Monday.
Unity Bank commenced operations in record time as it got the final license from the Reserve Bank on October 12 itself after getting in-principle approval in June. The license is also dependent on Unity Bank taking over Pangu Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, which was in the grip of Rs 7,000 crore loan scam and has been under RBI administrator since September 2019.
Bindra said, “Technically we are now open for business as our first branch is operational from Centrum Group Headquarters in Kalina. We are glad that we can launch the bank in the auspicious Diwali week and open customer accounts from tomorrow itself. expect.” .
On the proposed merger of PMC with Unity Bank, Bindra said the regulator has not said anything about it yet, as under section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, there must be an operating bank for merger/acquisition of the first bank. . So we’re going into operations, the first big step towards the merger.
“And even our operational expansion is dependent on the merger plan, which will be brought out by the RBI and the finance ministry, because although there are 145 Centrum branches available, we do not want to be a branch-led business, but a core business,” he said. Basically a digital bank. But everything depends on what and how RBI wants us to take over PMC,” Bindra explained.
Asked about the bank’s management, he said the company is yet to get the top team as the inauguration was done in a hurry. “Currently, I have sent one of the talents of our group, Indrajit Kaimotra, as interim CEO.
On growth and capital investment, he said by the fifth year, Unity Bank would have a capital of Rs 3,000 crore. The promoters will invest Rs 1,900 crore in the bank in two phases – Rs 900 crore by the third year and the remaining Rs 1,000 crore by the fifth year.
“At Rs 1,100 crore capital, we are funded almost six times more than the regulatory requirement of Rs 200 crore. If more growth capital is required, we will sell equity. As per RBI norms, we will be able to sell our holdings by any means. Can’t reduce it. The first five years.”
Centrum Capital, a listed arm of the Centrum Group, owns 51 per cent of the bank and 49 per cent of Resilient Innovations, a BharatPe arm set up for its banking entry.
In a statement, Bindra thanked the RBI for approving the bank to start operations. His partner and BharatPe Co-Founder and Managing Director Ashneer Grover said that they are committed to working tirelessly to build a digital bank and are now focused on building tech-first products that redefine the way we bank. will focus.
Established in 1997, Centrum Group has grown into a diversified lending platform for fee businesses and institutions and individuals. Institutional services include investment banking, institutional and retail broking, distribution of pension funds and mutual funds, wealth management for HNIs and family offices, affordable housing finance.
BharatPe was founded in 2018 by Ashneer Grover and Shashwat Nakrani to help small traders get finance easily. In 2018, it launched the first UPI interoperable QR code, the first zero MDR payment acceptance service and in 2020, it launched the only zero MDR card acceptance terminal- BharatSwipe.