State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a collateral free digital SME (small and medium enterprise) loan product ‘SBI Asmita’ for women entrepreneurs to help them expand their business. It also launched a ‘Nari Shakti’ platinum debit card to cater to the needs of women across various segments.

India’s largest bank said a robust ecosystem of APIs (Application Programming Interface) is used to streamline the lending process for SBI Asmita borrowers.

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“The product fetches and verifies the data footprints such as GSTIN, customers’ bank statements, CIC data base, etc. of the borrower, thereby, eliminating the hassle of physical document verification. Finally, it assesses the firm’s requirement and sanctions the limit,” per the statement.

A special add-on to the product is that top women entrepreneurs will be identified among borrowers of SBI Asmita to provide them with entrepreneurial and management training, it added.

Platinum debit card

SBI said the newly launched ‘Nari Shakti’ platinum debit card (made from 100% recycled plastic) is a RuPay-powered card designed exclusively for women. It offers features across segments such as entertainment, shopping, travel, lifestyle, insurance, etc.

Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, Chairman, said, “SBI Asmita is crafted with the vision of providing faster and easier finance to women-led MSME units through a digital and self-initiated process.

“..the ‘Nari Shakti’ platinum debit card…caters to the unique needs of women across various walks of life.”

Vinay Tonse, Managing Director – Retail Banking & Operations, observed that SBI Asmita offers a unique proposition to our existing as well as new micro-SME units who are part of the MSME ecosystem to fulfil all their business requirements by way of working capital and capital investment in the form of term loans through digital mode.

Further, to empower connection of women with the bank and commitment to green initiative the Bank launched the ‘Nari Shakti’ Debit card.

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Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda launched “bob Global Women NRE & NRO Savings Account,” designed exclusively for women NRIs. In addition, the Bank has revamped the “bob Premium NRE & NRO Savings Account,” enhancing its features and benefits.

The Bank, in a statement, said “bob Global Women NRE & NRO Savings Account” comes with benefits such as auto sweep facility, enabling customers to earn higher interest, concessional interest rates on home loans and auto loans along with reduced processing charges; 100% concession on locker rent; a customised debit card with free domestic and international lounge access at airports; and free Personal and Air Accident Insurance coverage.

The Bank claimed that it has become the first public sector bank to extend insurance coverage benefits to NRIs in savings accounts.