Janalakshmi Financial Services receives ‘Operating Licence’ for Small Finance Bank

BENGALURU — April 29, 2018

Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), India’s largest microfinance organization, today announced the receipt of final licence from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up Small Finance Bank. The Small Finance Bank will commence operations in the second quarter of the current financial year. JFS plans to set up 300 bank branches during the year covering the major locations in India.

The licence to operate ‘Small Finance Bank’ will enable all existing customers (5 million+) of Janalakshmi Financial Services to access financial services beyond the scope of microfinance. This is aimed at addressing financial inclusion and to empower the unbanked segments of the society with several financial tools such as savings account, cashless transactions and so on. The bank is also building innovative financial products, which every aspiring Indian wants to avail.

Commenting on this, V S Radhakrishnan, MD & CEO of Janalakshmi Financial Services Ltd, said, “We are excited about this and this will take us closer to our vision of financial inclusion in its true sense. We are fundamentally a unique organization with key differentiators such as primary focus on inclusion, significantly advanced technology platform and top-class management team.” He added, “We are well capitalized with investments from world’s leading institutions and this ensures seamless delivery towards our vision.”

Janalakshmi Financial Services has touched the lives of 8 Million+ people over the past 9 years and plans to continue its endeavour towards financial inclusion for the coming years, in the form of a Small Finance Bank.

What does this transition mean to JFS’ existing customers?

Customers can now avail financial services beyond the scope of microfinance. They can open a savings account or a current account, will be able to borrow different types of loans and will be able to avail benefits from cash deposit schemes and so on.
Besides availing micro loans, they can also seek loans for their businesses or Small Medium Enterprise, towards farming and for unorganized sector entities.
Jana Small Finance Bank will continue to provide banking products to the unserved and under-served sections of the country at an affordable cost
All customers of Janalakshmi financial services will automatically become customers of Jana Small Finance Bank with no change to their loan status.
This is a large step towards addressing the unbanked across various pockets of the country and thereby bringing them under the ambit of the banking system.

About Janalakshmi Financial Services Limited (JSF)

JFS is the largest Micro Finance Institution (MFI) in India. JFS gave out its first loan in October 2000, and currently serves over 5 million families across 259 cities in India. It has over 16,000 employees, referred to as JanaNayaks. JFS has deep domain expertise in banking and financial services with over 500 years of consolidated banking sector expertise just among the senior management. It is an organization that is recognized globally as one of the world’s innovative financial institutions working on the problem of financial inclusion.

JFS is promoted by Jana foundation, which is an urban inclusion think-tank based in Bengaluru with a vision to transform urban India where financial inclusion and enhanced quality of life are assured to all those who aspire to help themselves.

The Foundation undertakes various activities that deepen understanding of financial inclusion and its many challenges. It addresses policy issues through its financial advisory services; education, skilling, livelihood initiatives, community connect activities in order to help customers to improve the quality of their lives and help them meet customer needs comprehensively.

In March 2016, JFS was recognized and awarded as the ‘Best Financial Services firm in India’ by VC Circle. In 2017, JFS was also featured in ‘Fortune – The Top500’ largest corporations in India.