Jana Small Finance Bank Raises Customer Aspiration From Financial Inclusion to Financial Independence on Jana Diwas

NEW DELHI, August 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Jana Small Finance Bank today celebrated its third Jana Diwas, recognizing its customers' success in achieving financial independence and becoming a force in fostering financial inclusion.

Jana Small Finance Bank is deeply committed to financial inclusion through savings and deposit accounts, loan programs, financial education and outreach programs; and has proudly served millions of customers. Thus, every year Jana Diwas is organized to recognize and celebrate the success stories of individuals and their families, who have made considerable progress in transforming their lives and have become financially independent.

Jana Small Finance Bank connects nationally with its customers and seeks the best stories of their success. After a careful and diligent process, it identifies select customers and invites them to share their stories. These customers are recognized for the courage and determination shown by them to fight adversity and improve their quality of life.

Present at the event, Chief Guest Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Cabinet Minister, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, said, "Financial inclusion is one of the top priorities of the Government and Regulators in the country and banks like Jana Small Finance Bank have a huge role to play in it. By enabling access to financial institutions, Jana Small Finance Bank is empowering people to develop themselves across geographical and social spectrum."

Jana Small Finance Bank also organized an in-depth discussion on financial inclusion with Mr. Shobhana Pattanayak, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers' Welfare; Dr. Arun Kumar Panda, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises; Mr. U.S. Pant, Regional Advisor, South Asia, Public Finance Management, International Monetary Fund; Ms. Anita George, Executive Vice President, Strategic Partnerships - Growth Markets, CDPQ India and Mr. R. Gandhi, Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

Jana Small Finance Bank had received many customer stories from across the country. Customers were shortlisted and selected by a panel of jury members which included, Dr. Bimal Jalan, Former RBI Governor; Mr. Subhash Chandra Khuntia, Chairman IRDAI; Mr. Janmejaya Sinha, Chairman, Asia-Pacific, Boston Consulting Group; Mr. Tamal Bandyopadhyay, Consulting editor of Mint, and adviser, strategy, at Bandhan Bank; and Ms. Vijayalatha Reddy, Independent Director, Jana Small Finance Bank.

Speaking about the Jana Small Finance Bank customers, Chairman of the jury, Dr. Bimal Jalan said,"As Chairman of the jury panel responsible for selecting the stories for Jana Diwas, I have read these remarkable stories and feel impressed with the progress that our country is making in the direction of financial inclusion. I wish Jana Small Finance Bank all the best."

On Jana Diwas, other than the customers, select employees were also felicitated for going the extra mile in ensuring superior customer service. Speaking about the employee awards, Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan, Non-Executive Chairman, Jana Small Finance Bank, said, "Our employees are the most important touch-points. Considering the challenges in catering to the economically weaker segment, their contribution to bring about positive change in customers' lives is pivotal and one that needs recognition. The employees who got recognized today have shown commitment, honesty and passion towards providing superior customer service and I congratulate all of them."

Mr. Ajay Kanwal, MD & CEO, Jana Small Finance Bank, said, "Helping a large proportion of our customers elevate themselves from being job seekers to becoming job providers, from being borrowers to capital seekers is key to fast track financial inclusion in our country. This mission of financial inclusion has a crucial and irreplaceable factor - our employees who will usher transition from inclusion to independence. We are committed to creating hundreds of bankers from many small towns across the country which will be transformational in the medium term."

In line with the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India's 'financial inclusion' agenda, the transition from a microfinance company to a bank has enabled more than 45 lakh existing loan customers of Jana Small Finance Bank to come into banking ecosystem by the end of 2018.

At the onset, catering to the diverse needs of customers, Jana Small Finance Bank will continue with micro lending, savings and deposit accounts, and, in unison, it will extend business loans, agri loans, affordable housing and gold loans.

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About Jana Small Finance Bank 

Jana Small Finance Bank, erstwhile Janalakshmi Financial Services, is headquartered in Bengaluru. It is one of the 10 financial institutions which had received in-principal approval from RBI for setting up a Small Finance Bank in 2015. 

Established in Bengaluru in 2008, it was the largest Micro Finance Institution (MFI) in India, and was recognized globally as one of the world's innovative financial institutions working on the problem of financial inclusion. 

Jana Small Finance Bank received final banking license in April 2017 and started banking operations on March 28, 2018. Under the leadership of its MD & CEO, Ajay Kanwal, Jana Small Finance Bank's vision is to become the leading inclusive digitized bank serving all customer segments and communities of an aspirational India. 

Currently, post transition phase, the bank is enabling its existing 45 lakh customers across 19 states in India to access the banking services. It has Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of about 35 percent and a loan book of INR 76 billion as on March 31, 2018. By 2020, the bank aspires to add four million customers. 

The bank has deep domain expertise in banking and financial services with the senior management team having 25+ years of average experience in banking sector. Its current employee strength is of 15,000. 

By end of 2019, Jana Small Finance Bank's 500 branches will be operational in 19 states, post conversion of majority of its micro finance storefronts into bank branches.

Bengaluru-headquartered Jana Small Finance Bank is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

For more details, please visit - https://www.janabank.com/

Awards and recognitions 

• In 2015, Palladium inducted Janalakshmi Financial services into the 2015 Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame
• In 2016, VC Circle awarded JFS with the 'Best Financial Services firm in India'
• In 2017, JFS was featured in 'Fortune - The Top 500' as the largest corporations in India and was awarded as India's Distinctive Goodwill Brand for 2017. In the same year, CNBC awarded JFS for Best Financial Sector Transaction ADB Private Sector
• In 2018, Capital Finance International (CFI.co) adjudged the Jana Small Finance Bank as the The Best Inclusive Financial Services - India 2018 in London

Media Contact :
Girish Jaggi
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Genesis Burson Marstellar