SBI to send chocolates to borrowers who are likely to default on monthly repayments
Mumbai (PTI): The nation's largest lender State Bank of India is adopting a novel way to ensure timely repayments, especially by its retail borrowers, by greeting those likely to default on monthly installments with a pack of chocolates.
According to the bank, it has been found that a borrower who is planning to default will not answer a reminder call from the bank. So the best way is to meet them at their homes unannounced.
The move, aimed at ensuring better collections, comes amidst rising level of retail lending in the system coupled with increasing delinquency levels on the back of the upward movement in the interest rates.
SBI's retail loan book grew over 16.46 per cent to Rs 12,04,279 crore in the June 2023 quarter from Rs 10,34,111 crore in the year-ago period, making it the largest asset class for the lender whose total book stood at Rs 33,03,731 crore, growing at 13.9 per cent on-year.
In fact for the entire system, the double-digit loan growth of around 16 per cent has been led by retail loans only.
''With two fintechs which use artificial intelligence, we are piloting a novel way of reminding our retail borrowers of their repayment obligations. While one is doing conciliation with borrowers, the other is alerting us on the propensity of a borrower to default. And to such borrowers who are likely to default, the representatives from this fintech will visit them, carrying a pack of chocolates for each of them, and remind them of the forthcoming EMIs,'' Ashwini Kumar Tewari, managing director in-charge of risk, compliance and stressed assets at SBI, said here over the weekend.
According to Tewari, this novel method of carrying a pack of chocolates and personally visiting them is adopted because it has been found that a borrower who is planning to default will not answer a reminder call from the bank. So the best way is to meet them at their own homes unannounced and surprise them. And so far, the success rate has been overwhelming, he said.
Tewari refused to name the fintechs saying the move is just at the pilot stage and has been put into place just about 15 days back and ''if successful, we will formally announce it''.
''We are also talking to a few other fintechs to improve our collection efficiencies and hopefully by the end of the year, we will have formally tied up with at least half of them,'' he said, adding, ''we want to continue the pilot for at least four to five months.'' SBI's over Rs 12 lakh crore of retail book consists of personal, auto, home and education loans. With a home loan book of over Rs 6.3 lakh crore as of June, SBI is the largest mortgage lender too.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
