Public-sector banks to launch new schemes to support women entrepreneurs

Public-sector banks (PSBs) will soon launch tailor-made financial schemes for women, especially entrepreneurs and startup founders, who often fail to attract funding through existing channels, according to people aware of the development. 

The department of financial services has asked banks to devise a strategy to support women customers as part of the Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE 7.0) reforms agenda, these people said. EASE 7.0 focuses on assessing risk, managing non-performing assets, financial inclusion, customer service, and digital transformation.

Women played a key role in the recent general elections, accounting for around 312 million voters. According to pollsters, more women turned out to vote than men, and more women voted for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which looks set to form the new government.

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The latest EASE reforms include include special banking services for women entrepreneurs and ‘loan melas’ for those seeking financial support for their ventures. PSBs will also organise programmes to connect women founders with startup incubators to help them scale their ventures.

Banks will also organise camps to provide financial education to women, bring them into the banking system, help them tap the benefits of various government schemes, and teach them about investing and financial planning.

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“Women support programmes will be the theme of EASE 7.0. We see a lot of potential in our female customer base to move up the ladder and become successful entrepreneurs. Banks will be ready to support this through new and innovative financial products,” said the head of a public sector bank on condition of anonymity.

Queries sent to the finance ministry remained unanswered.

History of EASE reforms

The EASE reforms have been a key priority for the banking industry since FY19. Governed by the EASE steering committee of the Indian Banks' Association, the reforms aim to revamp and enhance the capabilities of PSBs to meet the changing demands of the industry. They also offer a common platform for all large and mid-size banks to establish and reinforce best practices to improve customer service at PSBs.

While first two versions of EASE focused on building a firm foundation and addressing key operational and capability gaps, EASE 3.0 (FY21) and EASE 4.0 (FY22) focused on building new capabilities through digital innovations and analytics, and improving the performance of PSBs through data and technology.

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EASE 5.0 (FY23) focused on enhancing the digital customer experience, with an emphasis on technology integration, including cloud adoption, account aggregators and open APIs. EASE 6.0 (FY24) focused on delivering excellence in customer service through technology, tech- and data-enabled capability building, developing people and enhancing HR operations.

EASE 7.0 will focus exclusively on women, and efforts will be made to see that PSBs extend all kinds of financial support to them, said the person quoted above.