Even as India strives to be the economy to reckon with, financial literacy especially among the rural and womenfolk remains an alien topic. In a society where men control the finances in most households and education plays an important part, achieving the goals on similar lines can be quite a challenge. Way back in 2008, three young and raring to go graduates envisaged the need to fill this gap and came up with what is now touted to be among the country’s leading banking correspondent network and a one stop solution for financial services, SAVE Solutions. The Financial World spoke to Ajeet Kumar Singh, MD, CEO, and Founder, SAVE Solutions Pvt. Ltd to know about the strides the company is making in financial literacy among others.
Tell us about the company
The Group serves approximately 21 million rural Indians in over 8,600 villages across 559 districts in 28 states and three union territories. It has an estimated network of 12,000+ Customer Service Points (CSPs). As a last mile banking service provider, we have a daily footfall of 400,000 clients. Our objective is to provide services to rural unbanked people and bring them under the umbrella of organised finance. We also providing financial services to the untouched and underserved communities besides offering financial products including Micro Loans, MSME Loans, Housing Loans, SBL Loans, Secured and Unsecured Loans.
How are you increasing awareness regarding financial literacy among rural women?
SAVE leverages its wide network of CSPs to provide both cash-in and cash-out services at the doorstep of these women micro-entrepreneurs. The officers of SAVE Microfinance create awareness about JLG loans amongst women of the villages. Women who are interested in JLG loans are provided with Financial Literacy. The loan process is initiated by creating groups of 8-30 women. Once all the processes are completed as per the rules, the loans are sanctioned. Once a month, a center meeting is organized at the home of any chosen woman from the JLG. In the meetings, the EMIs are collected and the women are informed about new products.
SAVE Solutions is cognizant of the fact that one-size-fit-all solutions do not work since everyone has a unique financial requirement. In our bid to promote inclusivity and foster women empowerment in India, we offer customized loans of different ticket sizes and different tenures, subject to the borrowers’ requirement. Moreover SAVE’s NGO also conducts financial literacy camps in the rural areas for everyone, which are focused on reiterating the importance of banking, account opening, insurance etc. The Customer Service Point Coordinators also regularly organize gram sabhas for the community, to spread awareness about banking schemes, Govt. schemes and so on.
Do you think people have become more aware of different means of saving and investing in rural India?
Due to lack of organised banking facilities in the villages in the past, it was difficult for rural people to open their accounts and save money. Bank branches were located too far and it was a cumbersome process to visit them and wait in queues. So they preferred to keep their money stacked at home, which restricted the multiplication of the money or they only invested their money in buying gold or pieces of land. As Customer Service Points reached the rural areas, people understood the importance of saving and also investing, because that would mean that their money would multiply through the savings in the form of interest, Fixed Deposits, Mutual Funds, and different government schemes etc. The fact that mini banking points are available at their doorstep now, makes it easy for them to participate in banking, saving and investing with convenience and flexibility. Financial Literacy programs conducted at the Gram Sabha ensure that they are aware about different ways to invest and save money, other than the traditional methods.
