ESAF Small Finance Bank (formerly known as ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt. Ltd.) is an Indian

small finance bank Small may refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...

providing banking services and small loans to the

underbanked The underbanked is a characteristic describing people or organizations who do not (or volunteer to not) have sufficient access to mainstream financial services and products typically offered by retail banks and thus often deprived of banking service ...

. It was founded as a small finance bank in March 2017. ESAF Microfinance started its operations as an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

in 1992 as ''Evangelical Social Action Forum''. Before becoming a bank, ESAF was a non-banking finance company and microfinance institution (NBFC-MFI), licensed by the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...

(RBI) and headquartered in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and ...

city of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

History and operations

On 11 March 1992, K. Paul Thomas, along with Mereena Paul and a few friends, started ESAF in a small house in

Mannuthy ] ] Mannuthy is suburb area on National Highway 544 of Thrissur city of Kerala, India. Mannuthy is Ward 13 of Thrissur Municipal Corporation. Kerala Agricultural University is situated in Vellanikkara near Mannuthy. Mannuthy is also a center for ...

named ''Little''. Jacob Samuel, one of the co-founders, coined the name ESAF, which is an acronym for Evangelical Social Action Forum. At inception, ESAF had five life members, seven annual members and eight honorary members. ESAF society was registered under the Travancore Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act. The initial president was Itty Mathew; J. Danabai was the vice president, Thomas was the secretary, supported by Samuel as joint secretary and Arun Ramakrishnan as treasurer. ESAF started lending in 1995 as the first microfinance company in Kerala. It became ESAF Small Finance Bank after receiving the first banking license in

since independence. On 17 March 2017,

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian Communist politician who is the current Chief Minister of Kerala, serving since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he is the longest-serving se ...

, the

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. F ...

officially inaugurated ESAF Small Finance Bank at

. By August 2017, the bank had 3,750 employees, 284 branches, and a presence in 11 states. In March 2018, a year after its launch, the bank had expanded to 4,000 employees and 400 branches, with crore (US$ million) in deposits and crore (US$ million) in loans. ESAF Small Finance Bank received RBI approval to operate as scheduled bank in December 2018, making the Thrissur-based bank the fifth scheduled bank from Kerala. This will reduce the bank's cost of funds, while increasing the bank's ability and obligation to provide services. The bank's net profit increased to crore in the 2019-2020 financial year from crore the previous year. On 26 March 2020, the bank received approval from

SEBI The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the ownership of Ministry of Finance within the Government of India. It was established on 12 April 1988 as an execut ...

for issuing its crore

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

Gallery

File:Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating ESAF Small Finance Bank at Thrissur.jpg, Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating ESAF Small Finance Bank at Thrissur in March, 2017 File:K. Paul Thomas, MD & CEO, ESAF Bank.jpg, K. Paul Thomas, Founder of ESAF, MD & CEO of ESAF Small Finance Bank File:Registered & Corporate office of ESAF Small Finance Bank.jpg, alt=Registered & Corporate office, Registered & Corporate office of ESAF Small Finance Bank at

, Thrissur

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ESAF, Microfinance Microfinance companies of India Small finance banks Financial services companies in Thrissur Indian companies established in 1992 Financial services companies established in 1992 Private sector banks in India 1992 establishments in Kerala Global Alliance for Banking on Values

History and operations

Gallery

See also

References