Bandhan Bank is a commercial bank focused on serving underbanked and underpenetrated markets in India. Bandhan Bank is the first instance in India of a microfinance entity transforming into a universal bank. The Bank a wide array of loans through Banking Unit (BU) outlets under Banking Units vertical to benefit small business owners in need of financial assistance. The Bank operates its Group Loans and Small Business & Agri Loans (SBAL) business channels from its BU outlets.
In addition to the loan and deposit products, the bank also offers other banking products and services to generate non-interest income and cater towards the additional needs of its customers. These products and services include debit cards, Internet banking, mobile banking, EDC-POS terminals, online bill payment services and the distribution of third-party general insurance products and mutual fund products.
Bandhan Konnagar was formed in 2001 as a non-governmental organisation ('NGO') providing microfinance services to socially and economically disadvantaged women in rural West Bengal. Bandhan Financial Services (BFSL) started its microfinance business in 2006 and the NGO transferred its microfinance business to BFSL in 2009 and thereby the entire microfinance business was undertaken by BFSL. By the time BFSL transferred its microfinance business to the bank, it was India's largest microfinance company by number of customers and size of loan portfolio.
Bandhan Bank Limited was incorporated as on December 23, 2014 at Kolkata, West Bengal as a public limited company. A licence authorising the Bank to carry on banking business was issued by the RBI in terms of Section 22 of the Banking Regulation Act on June 17, 2015.
The Bank began operations on August 23, 2015 when Bandhan Financial Services Limited ('BFSL'), its ultimate parent company, transferred its entire micro finance business to the bank and the bank simultaneously commenced general banking activities. To complement the micro loan business, since obtaining its banking license it has also focused particularly on creating a strong general banking business. To this end, it launched the general banking business on August 23, 2015 by opening a Greenfield network of 501 bank branches and 50 automated teller machines ('ATMs').
In 2016, Bandhan Bank expanded its branch and doorstep service centers (DSC) network to 656 branches and 2,022 DSCs. In 2017, the bank expanded its branch and DSC network to 840 branches and 2,546 DSCs.
Bandhan Bank launched an initial public offer (IPO) during the period from 15 March 2018 to 19 March 2018. The IPO was a combination of fresh issue of 9.76 crore shares and an Offer for Sale of 2.16 crore shares from selling shareholders. The IPO was priced at Rs 375 per share. The stock debuted at Rs 485 on BSE on 27 March 2018, a premium of 29.33% over the IPO price.
On 28 September 2018, Bandhan Bank informed the stock exchanges that since the bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of Non Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) to 40 percent as required under the licensing condition, general permission to open new branches stands withdrawn and the bank can open branches with prior approval of RBI and the remuneration of the MD & CEO of the Bank stands frozen at the existing level, till further notice.
Bandhan Bank said in a statement that it is taking necessary steps to comply with the licensing condition to bring down the shareholding of NOFHC in the Bank to 40 percent and shall continue to engage with RBI in this behalf.
On 12 October 2018, Bandhan Bank informed the stock exchanges that the bank has received an exemption from the Securities and Exchange Board of India with respect to (i) lock-in of one year on the equity shares held by the promoter; and (ii) eligibility condition of one year from listing; as required under regulations 36(b) and 82(b) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2009, respectively, in order to comply with the requirements of RBI Licensing Guidelines for Private Sector Banks issued on February 22, 2013.During FY 2018-19, the Reserve Bank of India vide its letter dated September 19, 2018 has imposed two restrictions on the Bank, one is withdrawal of general permission to open new branches whereby the Bank is not permitted to open new branches without the prior approval of the RBI and the other is freezing of remuneration of the MD & CEO at the existing level due to non-compliance of one licensing condition of dilution of excess shareholding of Non-operative Financial Holding Company ('NOFHC') in the Bank to 40% of the paid-up capital of the Bank, within three years from the commencement of the operations of the Bank. The Bank has taken initiatives to comply with the only remaining licensing condition and in that regard amalgamation of GRUH Finance Limited into and with the Bank has been approved by the Board by which the existing shareholding of NOFHC in the Bank will be brought down to 61% (approx.). The Bank along with NOFHC has also initiated several other steps to comply with the only remaining licensing condition at the earliest. The Bank is constantly in touch with the RBI on the matter.
During FY 2017-18, the Bank forayed into the gold loan business by commencing gold loan operations at 57 branches in eastern India. The number of these branches increased to 60 in the FY 2018-19. On March 31, 2019, the Bank's outstanding gold loan book stood at Rs 128.28 crore from 22,619 customers.
During the year 2019, the Bank set up 50 new branches and 21 new ATMs. As on 31 March 2019, the Bank has 986 Branches, 3014 DSCs and 481 ATMs.
During the FY2019, total deposits grew by 27.64% to Rs 43,231.62 crore, of which Rs 17,617.73 crore (40.75%) was Current Account and Savings Account (CASA') deposits.
Bandhan Bank was declared as the winner in the Noteworthy Lender to the MSE - Private Sector Bank' category at the SIDBI ET MSE Awards 2018 held on January 2019. Bandhan Bank received the award in Best Performing Bank' in terms of Aadhaar generation and update (using online client) at the Aadhaar Excellence Awards in October 2018.
The bank also won the Emerging Company of the Year' at The Economic Times Awards 2019 for Corporate Excellence. Also won Fastest Growing Company' and Excellence in Business Performance' at The Economic Times Bengal Corporate Awards 2020.
The Bank has set up 32 new branches, 332 new Banking Units and 4 ATMs and as a result, the branch distribution network went up to 1,018 branches and 485 ATMs in FY 2019-20.
With the expanding network of banking outlets and customers, the total deposits increased from Rs 43,231.62 crore as on 31 March 2019 to Rs 57,081.50 crore as on 31 March 2020 registering an increase of 32.04%.
The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic across the globe and in India has contributed to a significant decline and volatility in the global and Indian financial markets and slowdown in the economic activities. The RBI on March 27, 2020, April 17, 2020 and May 23, 2020, announced 'COVID-19 Regulatory Package' on asset classification and provisioning. In terms of these RBI guidelines, the lending institutions have been permitted to grant an effective moratorium of six months on payment of all instalments/ interest as applicable, falling due between March 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020 ('moratorium period').
As at 30 June 2020, the total number of Branches, Banking Units and ATM network stood at 1018, 3541 and 485 respectively.
As at 30 September 2020, the total number of Branches, Banking Units and ATM network stood at 1045, 3656 and 487 respectively.
As at 31 Decemeber 2020, the total number of Branches, Banking Units and ATM network stood at 1107, 4090 and 487 respectively.
The bank's total banking outlets as on 31 March 2021 stood at 5310. The network consists of 1147 branches and 4163 banking units and the total number of ATMs stood at 487 across the country.
During the FY'21, the Total Deposits increased by 36.6% to Rs 77,972.2 crore as on 31 March 2021.
During the year 2021, the Bank opened 751 new banking outlets, with a focus on geographies outside of East and North-East. Out of the total 5,310 banking outlets, 34% were established in rural, 39% in semi-urban, 18% in urban and 9% in metro locations. It opened 618 new Banking Units (BUs) pan-India with a sole focus on financial inclusion.
In FY'21, Bank launched its digital account opening journey - Neo+ Savings account, to digitize the liability onboarding process. It further launched three new Current Account products in FY 2021-22 namely Biz Deluxe Current Account, Biz PRO Current Account and Start-up Current Account. Apart from this, Gold Loan was strengthened as a product during the year.
During the year 2022, Bank extended housing loan services to 25 additional centres, thereby expanding its presence to 356 centres across 20 states and two Union Territories. It focused on affordable home loans with the majority of loans being below Rs 20 lakh. It launched a special campaign for higher ticket size loans with rate of interest starting from 6.40%. It started a Direct Sales Agent (DSA) channel for sourcing home loans and distribution of Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) in FY 2021-22.
During the FY'22, the Bank has added 329 new banking outlets. Out of the total 5,639 banking outlets, 35% are established in rural, 37% in semi-urban, 18% in urban and 10% in metro locations.
During FY 2021-22, Bank opened 287 new BUs pan-India with a focus on financial inclusion and to enhance portfolio quality by limiting the number of customers served by a BU. A total of 42 branches were added during the FY'22, taking Bank's footmark to 1,189 branches.
During FY 22-23, Bank opened 138 new BUs pan-India with a focus on financial inclusion and to enhance portfolio quality by limiting the number of customers served by a BU. A total of 222 branches were added during the FY'23, taking Bank's footmark to 1,411 branches.
During the FY'23, the Bank has added 360 new banking outlets. Out of the total 5,999 banking outlets, 35% are established in rural, 37% in semi-urban, 18% in urban and 10% in metro locations.