State Bank of India is partnering with cab aggregator Uber to provide vehicle finance for driver-partners on its platform. It is the bank’s endeavor to fuel growth for micro-entrepreneurs by providing access to quick and low-cost finance. The loans will be sanctioned instantly using an inbuilt digital offering. This new product will enable thousands of skilled drivers to overcome liquidity crunch and excess documentation requirements, to become an entrepreneur. All these loans are collateral free and carry a very competitive interest rate. All loans will also get covered under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana Scheme. Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of the bank, said the on-demand transportation segment growth has created a whole new ecosystem enabling lakhs of Indians to earn livelihood by becoming micro-entrepreneurs on such platforms. In the process, it has also opened up a new world of opportunities for the banking industry, not just in the on-demand transportation loan space but also in other areas like payment wallet, consumer finance etc. It is now upon us to leverage these opportunities. Doing so requires the bank to think and go beyond the traditional banking products and delivery services, she added. Eric Alexander, president, Business (Asia Pacific), Uber, said India is a global market priority for Uber and it has got over 250,000 driver partners on its platform who have become micro-entrepreneurs. The company believes in building deep relationships with India’s leading financial services partners that help it to drive growth and reach driver-partners and consumers across the country. And this unique vehicle financing program with SBI is one way of building that relationship, he added. Earlier, Arundhati Bhattacharya presented the key to Eric Alexander.
In January SBI had launched an innovative digital loan offering for merchants on e-commerce platforms. The offering has been extended to some of the largest players in the space including Snapdeal, Flipkart, Paytm etc. The partnership with Uber is another big step in the bank’s vision to build a risk mitigated portfolio by leveraging new ecosystem opportunities.
SBI and Uber are exploring further collaboration opportunities on various other areas including a special scheme for the Faujis who intend to drive on the Uber platform. Uber India has partnered with the Army Welfare Placement Organization (AWPO) under the ministry of defence to help ex-servicemen transition to civilian life and to provide them with entrepreneurial opportunities once they retire or complete their term of service. The bank is looking to offer special benefits for UberFauji program
