ESAF Small Finance Bank Creates Micro Banking Vertical with 5,200 Staff

New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) ESAF Small Finance Bank on Monday absorbed about 5,200 employees from ESAF Swasraya Multi-State Agro Co-operative Society Ltd (ESMACO), a corporate business correspondent of the bank, as part of a strategic business restructuring.

The bank will now directly manage the microloan portfolio that was previously managed by ESMACO through banking outlets.

This move aims to mitigate concentration risks while allowing ESMACO, a promoter group entity of the bank, to continue managing business operations at the Customer Service Centers.

The micro banking vertical, created with a 5,197-strong workforce, will primarily serve the needs of the rural population through micro-loans, agriculture loans, vehicle loans, and home loans, ESAF Small Finance Bank Managing Director K Paul Thomas said. The bank is also designing liability products to suit the needs of low and middle-income savers, he added.

Explaining in detail, Thomas said the bank decided last month to discontinue certain specific parts of the existing scope of business correspondent services provided by ESMACO, one of the promoter group entities of the bank.

Despite the business restructuring, ESMACO will remain the bank's largest business correspondent, overseeing 14.90 per cent of gross advances.

Further, he said, the bank will manage 66.14 per cent of gross advances directly, and the percentage of gross advances managed by all its business correspondents cumulatively will be reduced to 33.86 per cent.

"This decision is part of the bank's strategy to mitigate concentration risk associated with reliance on a single business correspondent and to bring the business operations in-house," he said.

"This move aligns with our risk management and operational efficiency objectives for further improving our control and visibility on these operations," he said.

As a result of the discontinuation, nearly 5,200 identified staff of ESMACO transitioned into the bank effective July 1, 2024.

It is notable that the bank's board, in its meeting held on June 14, 2024, decided to reduce concentration on individual business correspondents. It was decided to discontinue certain specific parts of the existing scope of business correspondent services provided by ESMACO.

The board also approved the absorption of ESMACO employees into the bank.