According to State Bank of India chairman CS Setty, the financial sector's digital transformation is enabling faster and broader access to credit, as well as better credit assessment, particularly for small businesses.
Key Highlights
- SBI will approve loans up to ₹5 crore for SMEs in approximately 25–30 minutes.
- The bank uses digital data (UPI, GST, income tax) and fintech partnerships for faster credit decisions.
"Today, I am extremely proud to announce that a SME customer with a loan requirement of up to Rs 5 crore can receive approval in 25-26 minutes. This has been made possible primarily by the massive digital landscape we have created," Setty told the global fintech summit here on Wednesday, emphasizing the efficiency of the banking ecosystem.
Though the use of financial products such as insurance is gradually increasing, credit delivery through business channels still requires improvement, he said. To address this, SBI is leveraging digital platforms and fintech partnerships to make extensive use of data, including UPI transactions, GST and income tax payments, and bank account statements, to ensure faster and more reliable credit decisions for SMEs.
To address financial inclusion, Setty emphasized the importance of account usage beyond account opening. "We've opened nearly 150 million Jan Dhan accounts (56% of which are held by women), each with a zero balance. Currently, 99.5% of these accounts are funded, with an average balance of approximately Rs 4,000. "This demonstrates that even small amounts are saved and used," he said.
He also stated that account activity has increased significantly, noting that PMJD accounts receive approximately 3.5 million transactions per day.
He stated that financial inclusion now includes credit and microinsurance, in addition to savings. Millions of people now have life insurance, accidental insurance, and pension plans, indicating that financial products are becoming more popular and accessible.
SBI's digital and inclusive approach aims to ensure that banking services are not only available to people, but also actively used to improve financial security and entrepreneurship across the country.
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The chairman later stated that he hopes to commercialize the second version of its popular mobile app, Yono 2.0, by the end of the year. He added that the bank has been using it with closed user groups for the past year.
"Yono 2.0 is a highly complex reimagination of the mobile application. We are reimagining Internet banking, and more broadly, the banking experience. And that's what we want to offer our customers with the redesigned Yono, he said, adding that we hope to have it commercially available by the end of the year.
On credit growth, the chairman of the country's largest bank, which controls a fifth of banking assets, stated that normally Q3 and Q4 are busy for credit, and I hope that the GST rate cuts will only add to that normally higher credit demand going forward, as the GST cuts, along with festivals and post-monsoon activity, should fuel credit demand. There ais already better consumer demand.
