A midst so much development happening around the world there are still some sections of society that are under-privileged. To be financially empowered is the most fundamental progress in any area of life. Satin Creditcare offers a diversified suite of products to serve the under-privileged segments of the society. It constantly strives to empower and promote its customers through its diverse range of financial products and services. Mr. HP Singh is the Chairman and Managing Director of Satin Creditcare Network Limited. Mr. Singh started Satin Creditcare Network Limited (SCNL) in 1990. Thirty years later, SCNL has become one of the leading microfinance companies in the country with operations spanning 23 states and union territories across India.
Today, SCNL stands tall as a differentiated market leader. This differential approach is also manifest in the company’s faster-than-industry growth in the last five years. The company has been able to sustain the growth momentum despite the setback says a lot about the inherent strengths leveraged through the years to overcome myriad challenges. Under Mr. Singh’s esteemed leadership, SCNL has now crossed the $1 billion AUM mark to join the Ivy League of Companies in the billion-dollar club. Over the years, Mr. Singh’s visionary approach has always helped in keeping the business abreast of the latest developments and trends as well as adapt to suit the changing dynamics of the ever-evolving industry. Mr. Singh has been an inspiration for young aspiring entrepreneur since the inception of SCNL.
In an interview with Insights Success Mr. HP Singh shares the Journey of SCNL and about its contribution to the financial inclusion.
Below are the highlights of the interview between Mr. HP Singh and Insights Success:
Kindly talk about the exclusive products and services offered by your company.
While microfinance being the company’s core area where it gives collateral-free loan to women through the Joint Liability Group (JLG) model, the company keeps expanding its offerings to make them more encompassing and suited to the diverse needs of the growing customer base. Given the dynamically evolving nature of today’s credit culture, keeping pace with customers’ unique aspirations and needs can be quite challenging. The company is continuously expanding the vistas of the business to deliver customized products and services to the customers. The companies’ clients are economically active women in rural, semi-urban and urban areas, who otherwise have limited access to mainstream financial service providers.
In continuity to evolving the product offerings, Mr. Singh incorporated Satin Housing Finance Limited in 2017 and Satin FinServ in 2018. Satin Housing Finance Limited (SHFL) a professionally managed housing finance company registered with the National Housing Bank (NHB), is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCNL. It is engaged in providing long-term finance for purchase, construction, extension, and repair of houses for the retail segment, along with loans against residential property to customers belonging to the Middle- and Low-Income Groups in peripherals of urban India, semiurban and rural India. Satin FinServ Limited (SFL) on the other hand is aimed to “serve the small business owners (MSMEs) in a manner that is mutually beneficial” by providing them loans for their business needs. SFL has a specific focus on small business owners in manufacturing, trading and services posting an annual turnover of less than Rs. 200 lakhs. SFL’s product
offerings include MSME – LAP. Loans in the range of Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 15 lakhs are offered to customers falling under the category defined and against an immovable property. Mr. Singh acquired Taraashna Financial Services Limited as SCNL subsidiary, pursuant to a special resolution passed by its shareholders on July 30, 2016. TFSL acts as a business correspondent for banks & NBFCs.
What is the vision and mission of your company?
Mission:
- To be a leading micro-financial institution by providing a comprehensive range of products and services for the financially under-served community.
- To lead in gender empowerment by leveraging on technology and innovation that forge sustainable strategic partnerships.
Vision:
Making Micro-finance Inclusive and Purpose Driven Mr. HP Singh has played a pivotal role in the success of the organization and his efforts are a measure of how effectively an organization’s mission statement translates into actual practice.
How the technological advancements and innovation in the microfinance space has impacted/enhanced the business of your company?
Digital transformation technology has been a game-changer for the company. It has not only made the operations quick and easy, but also enabled the company to turn around customer acquisition to disbursement journey by bringing it down from the earlier 15-20 days to a few minutes. This digital transformation put the company ahead of the curve to better respond to the ever-changing business scenarios. The technology was built inhouse in a record time of seven months, which helped in live tracking of day-to-day business operations and KPI’s through real-time dashboards updated every 2 minutes which helps the company in realtime decision making, faster book closing, improved data quality and better brand image.
The company successfully geotagged the borrowers’ houses as well as branches which helped in improving employee productivity via route mapping, while reducing dependability on loan officers (as attrition rates are high in the segment). The digital platform is completely online with real-time systems, which provide support to the end-to-end lending process. The platform is equipped with comprehensive reporting capabilities, audit trails and logs, detailed information about loan histories, transaction reports, required decision-making reports and numerous management analysis and real-time dashboards. The solution provides instant customer identification and bank account verification, real-time CB checks, and SMS notifications with various real-time integration of APIs. Today, 100% of the SCNL branches can do cashless disbursements. SCNL also became the first Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) to launch its Customer Service App for client servicing and cashless collections, and also offer payment options via its website for repayment.
What does the future look like for your company in terms of growth and expansion?
With operations spanning 23 states and union territories across India, SCNL maintains a focus on rural and semiurban areas, ensuring that the services reach deep within those numerous regions that usually face low or at best, moderate rates of penetration by other microfinance institutions. SCNL plays an eminent role in rural growth clearly exhibited in ~77% of its operations focused on rural India with a presence in more than 84,000 villages. This deep-rooted approach puts Satin Creditcare Network Limited in a sweet spot to leverage the growing capabilities of India’s hinterland to avail financial loans, and thereby, embark on the journey of rising economic growth and development. SCNL endeavours on achieving steady growth without dampening the portfolio quality and expect to regain growth trajectory with the coming quarters to be much better and robust both on financial and operational aspects.
