Market Opportunity

»	The Indian population (over 1.1 billion) spread in rural & urban centers, is served by:
	50,000 commercial bank branches 12,000 co-operative bank offices 15,000 regional rural bank branches (RRBs) 100,000 primary agriculture credit societies (PACS)
»	Despite this high branch density, the infrastructure has not been able to deliver financial services to low income households due to:
	High fixed & operating costs resulting in high delivery cost Lack of sales incentives in cooperatives and regional rural banks Lack of products suited to the rural poor – lack of formal employment/ steady income and absence of collateral makes them unsuitable for a banking product (at times because of regulatory constraints) Illiteracy in general & the lack of financial knowledge Lack of accessibility & reach of the traditional bank branches – Long distance and high cost of visiting a bank is a prohibiting factor, as it leads to loss of daily wage for a borrower Absence of private sector banks – operating model not feasible
»	Due to these hurdles, India has ~135 mm households which lack access to formal financial services
»	Traditionally, this excluded segment has been serviced by money lenders who are located close to the borrowers and have a fast loan disbursement process. These moneylenders charge a high rate of interest ranging from 60% - 100% effective annual yields