Women’s bank learns from elder sibling in Maharashtra

For the Bharatiya Mahila Bank, the country’s first pan-India national women’s bank, it is a humble rural cooperative women’s venture in Maharashtra that has provided the critical input to succeed: How to lend to women who do not have collateral to back their loans. Chetna V Sinha, founder and chairperson of Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, explained that this is the prime weakness in giving loans to women. The cooperative bank got around the problem by asking the woman’s husband to give an undertaking that his wife is a partner in the property and that she is taking the loan to develop her household. This is the same technique the Bharatiya Mahila Bank plans to adopt. In fact, it is Sinha who advised the new bank to do so. To become a part of the financial inclusion story, it is essential.............

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