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A SUCCESSFUL MICROFINANCE TO BANK:“A

CASE STUDY OF BANDHAN”

Ms. Sheetal Thomas1, Dr. Govind B Dave

2

1Assistant Professor,

2Dean Indukaka Ipcowala Institute of Management, CHARUSAT (India)

ABSTRACT

There are not many reports about the role of commercial banks in microfinance. This can be due to a large

level of absence in the field. Microfinance in general does not attract commercial banks. Due to this absence of

mainstream commercial banks the microlending activity was taking over by large number of nongovernmental

organizations popularly known as NGOs.This paper aims to study “Bandhan” as a case study from its

inception as an NGO to its performance as a bank. The first half of the paper is dedicated towards highlighting

its financial structure as an NGO and an NBFC. The paper further analysis its financing structure in last 5

years. Finally the paper concludes with an analysis of the probable challenges to be faced by Bandhan in its

operations as a bank. And Bandhan’s role in financial inclusion.

Keywords: Bandhan, Banking, Financial Inclusion, Microfinance.

I. INTRODUCTION

Bandhan was christened in 2001 under the able leadership of Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, a Senior Ashoka

Fellow. The meaning of bandhan is togetherness and its mission and vision reflects its name. The main thrust of

Bandhan is social upliftment and economic emancipation of women who are socially disadvantaged and

economically exploited. To achieve their objective, Bandhan engages in the delivery of microfinance services to

the poor women residing in rural and urban areas across the country.

Bandhan has been engaged in the delivery of microfinance service for the last 13 years. The model followed is

individual lending through group formation. Bandhan’s commitment towards triple bottom-line values is

strongly asserted by its intervention in development activities.

The financing structure of Bandhan during its operations as an NGO as per www.mixmarket.org is as follows:

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TABLE1: Financing Structure of Bandhan as an NGO from 2003 to 2006

Figure: 1-Capital Asset Ratio Figure: 2- Deposits to Total Assets

Figure 3:- Debt to Equity Ratio Figure 4:- Gross Loan Portfolio to Total Assets

From the above figures it can be found that Bandhan had a stable financial structure, it canbe noticed that the

capital asset ratio and gross loan portfolio to total assets have constantly increasing showing better capital

planning and loan disbursements.

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As of February 2015, it operates approximately 2,022 branches in 22 states and union territories in India.

Covering 246 districts, with 175 under banked districts. Bandhan has 15,956 staff that cater to 1,34,37,340

clients. Out of which 63,66,296 are active borrowers-all women. The cumulative loan disbursement amounts to

` 4,43,778 million out of which outstanding loans amount to to ` 89,079 million. Bandhan offers loans for

microenterprises and health emergencies and is led by Chairman and Managing Director Chandra Shekhar

Ghosh. Bandhan's past investors include Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Small Industries Development Bank

of India (SIDBI)

As of March 2014, it reported return on assets (ROA) of 5.01 percent and return on equity (ROE) of 28.24

percent.

Some of the loan products offered by Bandhan are as follows

TABLE 2: Loan Products Offered by Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

Product Name Loan Size Range

(`)

Loan Term

(Months) % Female % Urban Loan Purpose

Suraksha Loan

(Health Loan) 1,000 - 10,000 12 100% 20% - 40%

Other, It can be used only for

emergency health needs. , Can

NOT be used for business

Suchana Loan 1,000 - 15,000 12 100% 20% - 40% Business

Srishti Loan 16,000 - 50,000 24 100% 20% - 40% Business

Susikhsha Loan 1,000 - 10,000 12 100% 20% - 40% Education

Fisheries Loan 10,000 - 50,000 12 - 24 80% - 100% 20% - 40% Business

II. BANDHAN FROM NGO TO A BANK

Bandhan started as an NGO and in 2006 got its status as an NBFC. It further grew into becoming one of the first

MFIs to have granted a banking licence. But why does it need a banking licence, while it does the basic activity

of banking i.e. lending.

Even though NBFCs perform functions similar to that of banks, there are a few differences. One of them is that

an NBFC cannot accept demand deposits, it is not a part of the payment and settlement system and as such, an

NBFC cannot issue cheques drawn on itself; and deposit insurance facility of the Deposit Insurance and Credit

Guarantee Corporation is not available for NBFC depositors, unlike banks.

Over the past couple of years, the Indian banking sector has displayed a high level of resilience in the face of

high domestic inflation, rupee depreciation and fiscal uncertainty in the US and Europe. This has necessitated

the banks in India to concentrate much more on operating efficiency, outsourcing and cost optimization now

than ever before. With deregulation of savings bank rate and bleak global economy, the banks are focusing on

alternative sources of revenue, like fee income, trade and vendor financing, geographic expansion et al to

maximize their revenues. The Banking sector in India has adopted and embraced technology to keep pace with

the international development in the banking industry and offer quality products to its clients. Technology has

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enabled banks to conceive and deliver products that are more in line with the requirements of its clients on the

one hand and also more cost efficient on the other.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)intended to widen the reach of the `84 trillion banking industry to unserved

&understand segments. According (2012 World bank) document only 35% of Indian adults have access to

formal banking services.

Granting banking licence to Bandhan, a leading microfinance institution (MFI), is the first step towards this. As

it gears up to start operations, Bandhan’s founder Chandra Shekhar Ghosh aims at extending services beyond

credit to economically weaker sections who have been deprived of these services so far. Nonperforming assets

and defaulters are not an issue for his new bank, he says, but recruiting people for rural services will be a

challenge. Bandhan borrows fund at 12 to 13% & to disburse them among the borrowers. Bandhan has different

levels of challenges & must quickly put it all together within 18 months will have to set itself up as a full fledge

bank where its role will no longer be restricted to meet lending but will also get into the other aspects like,

collecting deposits among other like any other bank.

Mr. Ghosh also quotes about their strategy to start a bank he said “Even as it is set to transform itself from a

microfinance institution to a bank, Bandhan promises to maintain the poor as their target for loans & advances.

Our existing captive customers are poor economically backward people with less than `50,000 income per year,

we all now trying to target those with income above `50,000 per year”. He said that the physical touch is more

important to reduce NPAs (Nom Performing Assets)

With microfinance continuing to be Bandhan's spine, the next big question that needs to be resolved is of the

choice of its banking model. Bandhan is among the first generation MFIs and follows the Grameen model of

banking. Under this model, credit decisions are taken at the branch level, which facilitates quick disbursal of

loan in about a day's time. New generation MFIs like Ujjivan and Janalakshmi, on the other hand, follow the

retail banking model, where credit is disbursed after credit appraisal at a centralised unit. In these MFIs, the

credit disbursal usually takes about five days.

Bandhan is startlingly different from the other institution that has also been granted a banking licence – IDFC

Ltd. In terms of client profile, management bandwidth and asset size, the two are a study in contrast. There

would be number of challenges that they have to face before they make it to be good banks in the country.

III. FINANCING STRUCTURE OF BANDHAN

TABLE 3: Indicative Ratios of Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

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In April 2014, Bandhan had an outstanding loans of `5,704 crore; its net worth was ` 1,100 crore (` 96 crore in

equity with a capital adequacy ratio of 21 per cent). Its capitalisation is expected to be sufficient to support its

growth in coming years. The capital adequacy ratio is increasing and it is a positive indicator. It also shows that

the net worth of Bandhan is increasing thus would help them to attract more investments.

3.1 Capital / Asset Ratio

Figure 5:Capital/Asset Ratio of Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

The above figure shows the Capital/ Asset ratio of Bandhan MFI of last 5 year. It can be found that there is a

gradual increase in the capital asset ratio for years. Most of the MFIs have a CAR (using Tier 1 only) well

above the 8% minimum. This is appropriate, as analysts suggest that minimum capital adequacy for MFIs

should exceed the Basel II recommendations by at least 50%, i.e. that MFIs should maintain CAR of 12% or

higher. MFIs should have a larger capital buffer for several reasons: first, delinquency rates for MFIs can be

volatile; second, MFI operating expenses are generally higher than for commercial banks; and third, access to

funds for emergency recapitalization is more limited.

3.2 Debt to Equity Ratio

Figure 6:Debt to Equity Ratio of Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

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The above figure indicates the debt equity ratio for last five years. It is important for all organisations to

maintain a proper balance between debt and equity.If an MFI has a large amount of equity and very little debt, it

is likely to limit its income generating potential by not making use of external sources of debt (that is, a line of

creditor a loan that can be borrowed for, say, 10% and lent to clients at 24%). Therefore, it maybe better for the

MFI to increase its liabilities, if possible, to increase its income-generating assets (its loan portfolio). However

if DER increases rapidly, it can be said that the MFI is approaching its borrowing limits and this can have an

hindrance to growth. In case of Bandhan the MFI has decreasing DER which improves its borrowing capacity

for future expansions planned.

3.3 Gross Loan Portfolio to Total Assets

The Gross Loan Portfolio to Total Assets ratio indicates the proportion of the core earning assets of the MFI.

Figure 7: Gross Loan Portfolio to Total Assets Ratio of Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

Credit is the flagship service offered by MFIs to clients outside the net of formal financial services. For MFIs,

loan portfolio is the primary revenue generating asset. It also gives details about the health of MFIs. The above

figure shows that Bandhan has increased its gross loan portfolio to total assets y-o-y and stands at 91.07% in

fiscal year 2013, and is also the first among top 10 MFIs in with ` 6107 crore in loan portfolio. It also is an

indicator to the performance of the institution and its contributionto the goal of financial inclusion.

3.4. Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE)

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Figure 8: Gross Loan Portfolio to Total Assets Ratio of Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) are the two profitability measures that the MFIs and their

investors generally consider for judging the viability of their MFIs. The sector-average ROA and ROE are

generally viable and healthy at a median range of 1.94% and 9.25% respectively.The above Figure represents

the ROA and ROE of Bandhan for last 5 years. In year 2009-10 the ROA is 3.56%. In year 2010-11 it was

increase 5.38% so it indicates that Bandhan generating earnings based on their assets. In year 2013-14 the ROA

is 5.14%. The ROE was lowest for the year 2012 at 26.85% but revived by increasing by 2.05% in 2013 at

28.90%. It can also be noted that the lag period was due to the crisis microfinance faced in recent past. It

indicates that investors can have positive expectations from bandhan as its operations start in due course as a

bank.

From the above indicators it can be observed that Bandhan has a stable financial structure, which would allow it

to improve on its borrowings as a structured banking institution. It would require to infuse new capital in next

few months to support its long term plans. Its existing loan portfolio will also be further strengthen by starting

its activities as a bank. The asset quality of bandhan is good thus improving its ROA and ROE in long run. In all

the situation seems to be favourable to Bandhan to operate as a Bank.

But let us draw attention to certain challenges that can be a initial hindrance to Bandhan’s operations.

IV. CHALLENGES AHEAD

The transition from an NBFC to a bank, however, is not going to be as easy. There are many interviews where

Mr. Gosh points out to the probable challenges that the bank may face. In one of his interviews he said that “We

only need to meet the SLR and CRR requirements." Well that is a big requirement, as banks have mandatory

obligations to maintain there is statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 21.50% and 4%

respectively. Bandhan may not face real difficulty with priority sector lending or rural branches, as its entire

portfolio is priority sector while the RBI's requirement is only 40 per cent.

Another challenge that can be faced is having an appropriate product basket for all. As it expands its business as

a bank, products too need to go through a change to cater to both rural and urban clients. Similar change would

also be required in the model of transactions. As an MFI, collateral free loans were disbursed which now would

be a difficult proposition to continue with. A better risk management approach would have to be adopted to

sustain and grow.

Geographical centre for operations can also be considered as a challenge. As trust is a major factor for banking,

there can be chances that the client base in rest part of India other than east may be willing to experiment with a

new bank.

Acquiring human resources from upper to lower level management will againbe a challenge. A bank needs

management driven with vision and clarity, setting up a board that can take the right directions and decisions

can be considered as one of the important factors. The existing staff is also a concern as most of them are either

graduates or undergraduates and Bandhan would need to acquire people with better qualification and skills to

improve on their banking dream.

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Keeping the profitability for initial some years can be a concern as most capital would be utilised to set up new

operations, like increasing the number of branches, buying new technology, acquiring human capital, setting up

of ATMs etc.

Lack of technology can also be a hindrance as their clientele would belong mostly to rural parts where internet

connectivity is minimal. This would restrict bank from using latest methodologies of online banking.

The bank may also face stark competition from other commercial banks, these may not be active in rural

markets, but would have a strong urban client base.

Bandhan has to start its banking activities by October 2015, a fare enough time it has received to iron out the

challenges and give banking a new usher of hope.

V. THE DREAM OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION

India is a county where still a large population is very poor, financial inclusion is of great importance to them. It

is a major challenge for the poor toaccess secured and organized finance options. Ensuring the optimum

utilization of the resources they possess is also difficult. Economic and societal uncertainties mean volatility in

their income can have an adverse reaction on the financial stability. Many a times exposing them to unorganized

financial help like money lenders and small time lending institutions. The hope of financial inclusion now lies

with banks, both private and public. In a speech last year the RBI, Deputy Governor, S S Mundra says,

"according to census 2011, out of 24.67 crore households in the country, only about 14.48 crore or 58.70 %

households had access to banking services. Further, of the 16.78 crore rural households, only about 9.14 crore

or 54.46 % households were availing of banking services.

Now there lies a big scope for Bandhan to come forward and play an important role in bringing large population

to financial inclusion.

Bandhan’sMr. Ghosh says inan article that its core commitment to the marginalised section will give it an edge

over other banks while they serve all communities of the society, they will continue to serve the poor in fact,

and they will have a separate head that will look into the underprivileged section of the society. They will serve

the poor to began with it will start with 600-700 branches across the country

He also added that they would introduce the Human Teller Machines (HTMs) rather than ATMs. This could

reduce Non Performing Assets (NPA) because personal touch with human can help to understand their

requirement about financial products & services & also know about their capacity to repay the loan amount.

As a bank, Bandhan will have access to low-cost savings deposits which will help it reduce lending rates in the

future. With its conversion into a bank, 30 lakh of its existing borrowers who don't have bank accounts till now

will come into banking fold automatically.

Bandhan can play a very important role in financial inclusion in India by taking up the following.

Providing financial literacy & awareness for financial empowerment

Providing loans only for productive purposes

Providing loans for education of their children” and the loan range is `1000 to 10000. For books & fees etc.

& also provide health loan, emergency health requirement & sanitation purposes.

For real financial inclusion they need to target families and work for their up liftment.

Increased emphasis on grassroots level banking for maximum reach and financial inclusion.

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Keeping up to its main objective of poverty alleviation & women empowerment by introducing organised

banking services and products for women.

VI. CONCLUSION

Nassim Nicholas Taleb quotes that “Banking is a very treacherous business because you don't realize it is risky

until it is too late. It is like calm waters that deliver huge storms”. We want to believe that it would not be so

risky for Bandhan to operate as a bank. With an experience of 13 years as a successful MFI, it won’t be difficult

to start its operations. Their financial status is good and many organisations have started funding their project by

now. The bank and its CMD are determined to stick to their main objective that is to provide financial

products& services in unbanked rural area and to achieve the financial inclusion through women empowerment

& provide employment for alleviation of poverty in rural area. Currently bandhan’s main asset is their existing

customers and their trust on their services becomes a major step in setting up of a bank. Their unique ways of

working would lead Bandhan as one of the successful banks in banking sector.

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