Indian Bank has also launched an exclusive credit facility for startups as well as an online business mentoring program for MSMEs:
Padmaja Chunduru underlines that Indian Bank has stepped in to bridge the gap in funding for start-ups through collaboration with IIT MIC
Indian Bank has recently undertaken wide-ranging digital initiatives for its various customer segments. Its new mobile banking app, called Ind OASIS, provides its customers with a variety of financial services at their fingertips, anywhere and anytime, on Android and iOS platforms. The bank’s MD and CEO Padmaja Chunduru provides details: “The app is technically more advanced compared to our earlier IndPay app. It is a safe, convenient, and easy to use application with a host of features to help users following their finances on the move.”
Pleasing User Interface
Padmaja Chunduru says the app complies with all guidelines with regard to ease of doing banking as prescribed by the public sector banks’ reforms agenda of the Ministry of Finance from time to time. She explains: “The new app is a complete facelift compared to the existing app. There is a tiled dashboard, a better and thorough hamburger menu, and a simple and pleasing user interface. The fund transfer page has been refurbished so that the app becomes more responsive to customers’ needs. As the name suggests, it is a one-stop-shop for meeting the majority of the banking needs of the end consumer while maintaining simplicity, user-friendliness, integrity, and security.”
Several New Features
There are a number of new features in IndOASIS. Some of these features are biometric login with fingerprint support for enhanced security; auto-read of OTP for maintaining the integrity and user convenience and streamlined interface to increase visibility for customer-favorite features like EasiPay and term deposits. There are also features like the opening of PPF accounts, registration/modification of account nomination, channel-wise (ATM / POS / e-Com / NFC) limit setting for debit cards, setting debit card PIN, direct tax payment and NPS payment, EMI/deposit calculation. Says Padmaja: “IndOASIS offers conventional mobile banking services with a unified view of all accounts, fund transfers, recharge/bill payments, m-passbook, cheque services, opening e-Deposits etc. with easy to use interface and multi-lingual support.”
SpringBoard For Start-ups
Indian Bank has recently launched an exclusive credit facility for startups – IND SpringBoard. This is in collaboration with IIT, Madras Incubation Cell (IIT MIC).
Says Padmaja: “It is a known fact that banks find it difficult to fund startups, as they often do not meet the requirements under traditional models of financing. The business models involving high technology, lack of visibility of cash flows, credit history, high burn rate, and high failure rate among them make the process of due diligence for assessing viability difficult. Resultantly, this segment has been almost completely funded by seed capital or private equity from India / abroad. Both the Government of India and the RBI have been constantly bringing in enablers to help this ecosystem. We stepped in to bridge this gap in funding through this collaboration with IIT MIC.”
Under the MoU, IIT MIC will refer startups with proven technology and established cash flows to the bank and also extend advisory to the bank on the business model. Padmaja adds that the bank will extend loans of up to Rs500 million to these startups for their working capital requirements or purchase of machinery, equipment, etc. This initiative will be the springboard for startups to realize their ambitions. The bank, she says, sees this collaboration as a perfect fit both for the bank and IIT MIC.
Online Mentoring
Indian Bank has recently launched ‘MSME Prerana’, an online business mentoring program for MSMEs. This is for empowering entrepreneurs through skill development and capacity-building workshops in the local language. The program is in collaboration with Poornatha & Co, a firm that designs entrepreneurial development programs in vernacular languages using online web-based interactive sessions and case studies. Spread over 12 sessions, the program enables the entrepreneurs to acquire expertise in handling finance and managerial skills, the capacity to handle crises in business, understand the dynamics of credit rating and risk management. While the sessions on managerial and financial skills will be handled by Poornatha & Co, the banking-related topics will be handled by a faculty from the bank. On successful completion, all the participants would get certificates.
Padmaja elaborates: “This program gives inputs in simple terms (no jargon) and in the local language. The objective is to equip entrepreneurs with business skills as well as communication and HR. The programs will be scaled up across the country in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Gujarati, etc, and work is already underway for this.”
