"We may be poor, but we are so many. Why don't we start a bank of our own ? Our own women's bank, where we are treated with the respect and service that we deserve."
- Chandaben, old clothes seller,
Founder - member, SEWA Bank
"How many times do we need to prove that poor women are bankable?"
"I used to buy vegetables for Rs.100 on credit in the morning from the wholesaler. At the end of the day, I would repay Rs.110 to him. I pay daily interest of 10%.
SEWA Bank gave me my first loan of Rs.2000 for buying vegetables. They gave me 3 years to repay it, at an interest rate of 17% per year. I repaid in six months and have taken many more loans from SEWA Bank since then.
That first loan from SEWA Bank enabled me to get out of the money lender's trap and to upscale my business turnover and my profits."
- Rajiben, Vegetable Vendor - SEWA Bank Client
Self employed women need loans for a wide variety of purposes; to buy assets, raw materials, finished goods for resale, redeem old debts, upgrade their homes, buy transportation means such as a handcart or a pedal cart or put in infrastructure in their homes, such as water or electric connections.
SEWA Bank has been providing a wide range of loan products to meet the productive credit needs of its clients. SEWA Bank requires that a woman save regularly for atleast one year, before she is eligible to apply for a loan. In the absence of traditional collateral, a regular savings habit is deemed a necessary form of security, in SEWA Bank's experience of banking with the poor for over 25 years.
Terms and Conditions of Loans from SEWA Bank:
Loan Term: 3-5 years Interest Rate: 14.5% - 17% Interest Method: Diminishing Balance Method Maximum Loan Amount: Rs.50,000 (unsecured loans)
Each loan is sanctioned following a pre loan check home visit by a SEWA Bank field worker. The amount sanctioned depends mainly on the field workers recommendation, as she is deemed too know the client best.
A customized client credit risk rating instrument is also completed, to have fixed the amount of loan to be sanctioned. This instrument has been developed by SEWA Bank with inputs from professional consultants, tailored to reflect the conditions and situations of SEWA Bank customers.
A summary of SEWA Bank's total loaning activity for the last eight years is as follows
