With the retail loan demand rising in Kerala, private lender ICICI Bank has taken another step in strengthening consumer loans and mortgages. On Tuesday,  the lender announced that it aims to grow its retail loan disbursement in Kerala by over 20% to Rs 3,100 crore in FY’20. This target is divided into two categories with disbursement of consumer loans, which comprises of personal and auto loans, and it is expected to grow by nearly 22% to Rs. 2,200 crore while the disbursement of mortgages including home loan is likely to rise by close to 20% to nearly Rs. 900 crore. By doing so, the bank looks to achieve growth by rapidly expanding disbursement of consumer loans and mortgage loans, the two main pillars of retail loans. 

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Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said, “Retail consumer loans have witnessed significant growth in Kerala over the last few years. There has been a robust growth in the economy of the state. We see the potential of increasing the disbursement of consumer loans and mortgages in Kerala by over 20% to Rs. 3,100 crore in FY’20.”

ICICI Bank presences in Kerala:

There are 316 ATMs and 174 branches - from which  60% of the branches are located in the semi-urban and rural areas in Kerala. 

The Bank is the largest lender among private sector banks to Self Help Groups (SHG) in Kerala. The Bank has disbursed loans to over 12,900 SHGs and over 1.65 lakh women benefited from this programme across Kerala. The cumulative financial assistance pegged at Rs. 380 crore. By the end of FY20, the Bank intends to expand its reach to 2.25 lakh women beneficiaries with a cumulative loan disbursement of Rs. 550 crore.

Here’s how ICICI Bank plans to strengthen retail loan segment in Kerala, in Bagchi’s word.

In regards to personal loans, Bagchi said, “A significant driver of growth in our personal loan book is our technology led personal loan solution called ‘Insta-PL’. Through this facility, our pre-approved customers can apply for a personal loan from internet / mobile banking platforms and get upto Rs 15 lakh in their account immediately. Nearly one-third of our PL disbursement in the state is through ‘Insta PL’.”

Adding he said, “We are also witnessing significant traction in unsecured business loans from the self-employed segment as they prefer short-term access to credit. We have developed a full-fledged product suit of ‘Business Instalment Loans’ to provide tailor made solutions for self-employed individuals, wherein the credit decisions are mainly based on their banking habits, sales turnover, home or auto loan repayment, GST returns etc.” 

Meanwhile for auto loans, Bagchi stated that, ICICI Bank have recently introduced pre-approved ‘Insta Auto Loan’, to empower millions of our customers with final sanction letters for car loans instantly, in a fully digital manner. The customers can get loans upto Rs 20 lakh for a payment tenure of upto seven years. We have also introduced pre-approved instant top-up offering, to our existing auto loan customer to cater to their additional fund requirements. The demand for both these products in tier II and III towns has been growing rapidly. Our focus continues to tap potential available in cities like Alappuzha, Kannur, Kollam, Kottayam, Malappuram along with the top cities like Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram.

Within the home loans portfolio, the focus is to drive growth in the affordable housing segment category, through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The Bank is expanding to tier II and III cities like Palakkad, Kannur, Alappuzha, Malappuram among others.

Further to drive home loans to the self-employed segment, the Bank has introduced an innovative product that takes into account various additional parameters for assessing credit eligibility for self-employed individuals. The list of the additional parameters includes GST returns, customer base of the business, daily footfalls receipts at the business and invoices.

Bagchi added, “We plan to increase our mortgages disbursement in Kerala by close to 20% to nearly Rs. 900 crore in FY’20. To drive this growth, we have adopted a multi-pronged strategy with a focus on affordable housing segment, driving penetration of insta home loan and top up home loan. We have recently launched the industry’s first facility to get instant home loan approval upto Rs 1 crore digitally. This technology led initiative is available to lakhs of our pre-approved customers and is a key part of our growth strategy.“