IndusInd Bank in India pledges $100m to Support Women Borrowers in India

In September 2018, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, committed a $100 million loan to IndusInd Bank Ltd to expand lending to women throughout India.

“The challenges women face in the Indian context are multi fold. Typical Indian families see discrimination in opportunities provided to a girl child over a boy. These are evident in education, amounts spent etc.  Empowering women economically and politically is therefore the most important step to reduce this gender inequality. 

Further, the microfinance experience over the last two decades has shown that the  business case for funding through women is compelling. The utilization of funds is proper, discipline is adhered to and repayment is good. Channelizing funds through women also helped women to be economically empowered leading to having a say in the decisions in a family, helped in improving better quality of food, better education to children etc. For us, lending to women is, therefore, smart economics as it leads to increased efficiency, productivity, better portfolio quality, employee satisfaction and is sustainably viable.”

– IndusInd Bank

To reach women at the base of the economic pyramid, IndusInd supplies credit by partnering with established microfinance institutions and leveraging lending platforms to underwrite and service microfinance credits. The arrangement allows partner institutions to focus staff and resources on originating and servicing loans and less on raising capital for new loans and reserves. IndusInd Bank was founded in 1994 and has 1,466 branches, and 2,372 ATMs spread across geographical locations of the country.