SBI sanctioned 20,000 digital small biz loans

Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) has sanctioned around 20,000 loans of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for small businesses as part of a digital lending pilot that started in December, a senior official said on Friday.

Having been satisfied with the results of the pilot, under which a customer can get a loan sitting at home, the country’s largest lender is now broadening the loan amounts to Rs 5 crore, Deputy Managing Director Surendra Rana said at a banking conference organised by IMC here. “We rolled out the Rs 10-50 lakh model in December and I am happy to share that we have already sanctioned around 20,000 loans through this process and this is working very smoothly. Now, we are escalating it to Rs 5 crore,” he said. A customer journey starts with scanning a QR code from anywhere, grants some approvals and SBI uses data repositories to come back with a sanctioned amount in a maximum of five days, he said.

The remarks from the official come days after the bank announced that lending to small businesses will be a “focal point” for its growth and profits over the next five years.