SHILLONG: Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd., India’s first women’s bank and a wholly-owned Government institution opened its 21st branch at Shillong on Tuesday.
The branch was inaugurated by educationist, activist and journalist Patricia Mukhim, in the presence of Usha Ananthasubramanian, Chairman and Managing Director of the Bank, at the CTO Building, Shillong.
Speaking on the occasion, Mukhim said that it was an honour to inaugurate the branch of Bharatiya Mahila Bank, a woman-centric bank, which will impact the lives of the ordinary women by empowering them to realise their dreams.
Mukhim also congratulated the Bank for opening its 21st branch at Shillong. She also desired that the bank should expand in Meghalaya as there is immense potential for taking the women into the fold of financial services.
Ananthasubramanian informed that the bank is designed to cater to the needs of women and offers entire banking and financial services for the women.
The access to finance and banking not only helps empower women but also broadens the social base of development, thus fostering equitable growth. It will cater to every segment of women from self-help groups to lower middle class women to high net worth individuals with the basket of various products to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth, she said.
At present, the bank is offering an interest of 5 % on Savings Bank account with balance of Rupees One lakh and above and for amount less than Rupees One lakh the interest rate is 4.5 %. The interest for deposits upto Rupees One crore is 9.15 % and for deposits above Rupees One crore is 9.25 %.
For women customers, the bank is offering concessional rate of interest as applicable for various loan products. With working women in mind and to help them continue their jobs, the Bank has designed a special loan product for setting up day care centres. Educational loan, beauty parlour loan, loan to establish catering units, apart from normal banking loan products such as vehicle loan and home loan are some of the other loan products that have been designed for the benefit of women.
The bank has also tied-up with New India Assurance Co. Ltd. for providing general insurance products to cater the needs of women at the bottom of the pyramid, working women and also for their family as a whole.
The Bank also offers total collateral free loans upto Rupees One crore by covering it under CGTMSE. The Bank has also tied up with TATA Motors where there is a lower margin offered to women.
The bank will also conduct programmes on financial literacy, skill development, training for women of all segments of the society so that women in turn generate more income, more jobs and growth opportunities and contribute significantly for the economic growth of the nation. Distinguished guests from other organizations and from various banks and government officials were present on the occasion. The bank currently has its presence in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata among other cities.