‘Small-ticket loans could give payments bank model a boost’

Payments banks touch the lives of more than 100 million consumers each month, and enabling such players to offer small-ticket micro loans from their own balance sheets could significantly boost the viability of the model and enable more financial inclusion, Airtel Payments Bank managing director and chief executive officer Anubrata Biswas told fe on Friday.

“Today, if the payment bank industry is touching more than 100 million views, if we as an industry are allowed to offer small-ticket micro loans, then imagine the impact of financial inclusion which we will suddenly have where we bring millions of people into formal credit…,” the MD said, adding that such banks could be “much more prudent and pragmatic” in underwriting loans as they have a better last-mile connect with customers.