ESAF Small Finance Bank

ESAF Small Finance Bank
FormerlyESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt. Ltd.
Company typePublic
IndustryBanking
Founded10 March 2017; 7 years ago (2017-03-10)
HeadquartersMannuthy, Thrissur (Registered & Corporate Office)
Number of locations
500 branches (2020)
Area served
India
Key people
RevenueIncrease ₹3,141 crore (US$370 million) (FY23)[1]
Increase ₹893 crore (US$100 million) (FY23)[1]
Increase ₹302 crore (US$35 million) (FY23)[1]
Number of employees
4,100 (2022)
Websitewww.esafbank.com

ESAF Small Finance Bank (formerly known as ESAF Microfinance and Investments) is an Indian small finance bank headquartered in Thrissur, Kerala, providing banking services and small loans to the underbanked. Having started its operations as an NGO in 1992 under the name of Evangelical Social Action Forum, ESAF Microfinance was a non-banking finance company and microfinance institution (NBFC-MFI), licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It became a small finance bank in March 2017 and started operating in January 2018.[2]

History and operations

On 11 March 1992, K. Paul Thomas,[3] along with Mereena Paul and a few friends, started ESAF in a small house in Mannuthy named Little.[4] Jacob Samuel, one of the co-founders, coined the name ESAF, which is an acronym for Evangelical Social Action Forum. At inception, ESAF had five life members, seven annual members and eight honorary members. ESAF society was registered under the Travancore Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act. The initial president was Itty Mathew; J. Danabai was the vice president, Thomas was the secretary, supported by Samuel as joint secretary and Arun Ramakrishnan as treasurer.[5]

ESAF started providing interest free loans in 1995 as one of the first microfinance institutions in the country and the first microfinance company in Kerala. It became ESAF Small Finance Bank after receiving the first banking license in Kerala since independence.[6][7][8]

On 17 March 2017, Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala officially inaugurated ESAF Small Finance Bank at Thrissur, Kerala. By August 2017, the bank had 3,750 employees, 284 branches, and a presence in 11 states.[4]

In March 2018, a year after its launch, the bank had expanded to 4,000 employees and 400 branches, with ₹2,200 crore (US$297 million) in deposits and ₹4,200 crore (US$567 million) in loans.[9][10]

ESAF Small Finance Bank received RBI approval to operate as scheduled bank in December 2018, making it the fifth scheduled bank from Kerala. This will reduce the bank's cost of funds, while increasing the bank's ability and obligation to provide services.[11] The bank's net profit increased to ₹190.39 crore in the 2019-2020 financial year from ₹90.28 crore the previous year.[12][13]

On 26 March 2020, the bank received approval from SEBI for issuing its ₹976 crore initial public offering.[14]

  • Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating ESAF Small Finance Bank at Thrissur in March, 2017
    Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating ESAF Small Finance Bank at Thrissur in March, 2017
  • K. Paul Thomas, Founder of ESAF, MD & CEO of ESAF Small Finance Bank
    K. Paul Thomas, Founder of ESAF, MD & CEO of ESAF Small Finance Bank

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "ESAF Bank net profit soars 452% in FY23". BusinessLine. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  2. ^ sundarajan, Priya (17 March 2017). "ESAF Small Finance Bank launched". BusinessLine. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  3. ^ "ESAF to graduate into a bank soon". OnManorama. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b "ESAF SFB fulfils banking dreams of common man". passlinebusinessmagazine.in. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  5. ^ "History at a glance". ESAF India. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  6. ^ "RBI issues Small Finance Bank license to ESAFurl". Business Standard. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  7. ^ "ESAF ties up with FIS for micro finance bank". Economic Times. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  8. ^ "The small finance bank will be profitable within first year of operations: K Paul Thomas". Business Standard. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  9. ^ "ESAF Crosses Rs.2300 Crore Retail Deposit in the first year - India Education Diary". India Education Diary. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  10. ^ "ESAF Bank to celebrate first anniversary". The Hindu. 11 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  11. ^ "With RBI nod, ESAF is now scheduled bank". The Hindu BusinessLine. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  12. ^ "ESAF Small Finance Bank Q4 profit up over 3-fold". The Economic Times. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  13. ^ "ESAF". www.esafbank.com. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  14. ^ "ESAF Small Finance Bank gets Sebi nod for IPO". in.finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.