Bandhan Bank has trimmed its interest rate on micro loans by 70 basis points, or 0.7 per cent. This reduction would bring down the effective interest rate on micro loans to 17.95 per cent from 18.65 per cent.

The microlender-turned-bank on Monday said the new rate of interest would be applicable to new disbursements from June 18, 2019.

In the last four years since Bandhan Bank began operations as a bank, it has reduced micro loan rates by 445 basis points, or 4.45 per cent, to 17.95 per cent from 22.40 per cent.

Microlending by the bank typically has tenures of 1-2 years with maximum ticket size of around Rs 1.5 lakh.

The city-based bank has seen a 39.66 per cent growth in micro banking assets as on March 31, 2019, with the assets at Rs 386.15 billion against Rs 276.5 billion in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The number of micro borrowers has also grown 23.25 per cent in 2018-19 to 9.49 million against 7.70 million in the previous year.

“With the reduction in microloan interest rate, more people will find it affordable to borrow money and build sustainable livelihoods for themselves,” said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, managing director and CEO of Bandhan Bank.

As on March 31, 2019, Bandhan Bank had deposits worth Rs.43,232 crore and its loan book stood at Rs.44,776 crore.

AllBank charge

Allahabad Bank on Monday said it has decided to waive the charges for RTGS & NEFT transactions from July 1, 2019, to promote digital banking, in line with the RBI’s decision not to levy such charges.