ICICI Bank and Small Business FinCredit will jointly provide loans worth up to Rs 1 crore to the small and medium enterprises.

ICICI Bank on Friday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Small Business FinCredit India Pvt Ltd (SBFC) to jointly provide credit to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The partnership has been forged under the aegis of RBI’s circular dated September 21, 2018, that permits banks to engage with a non-banking financial company (NBFC) to co-originate loans for the creation of priority sector assets, the bank said.

It is the first-of-its-kind programme by a bank and an NBFC, it said, adding the loans of up to Rs 1 crore is for a tenure of 15 years per customer.

Under this arrangement, ICICI Bank will co-originate loan against property with SBFC at a mutually agreed ratio. The flow of funds from ICICI Bank will help customers aid their businesses in a seamless manner.

“This is a first of its kind lending arrangement... With this initiative, we aim to support the entrepreneurial aspirations of customers who can contribute to the infrastructure growth story of the country,” said Ravi Narayanan, Head - Secured Assets, ICICI Bank.

Aseem Dhru, MD and CEO, SBFC said, this combines the balance sheet strength and superior credit screening experience of the bank with our ability to reach out to the underserved businesses across the country’s smaller towns.

“Through this, we will enable credit delivery to the micro-enterprises using technology, reach and deliver credit at the right price point that replaces market borrowings or trade credit and improve the cash flows of these businesses.”

Published on January 4, 2019