"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?"
In India , the majority of women own some jewellery. Gold is seen as an investment – a form of insurance against bad times. Even the poorest woman owns some jewellery, usually given to her at the time of her marriage.SEWA Bank has designed a secured loan product based on jewellery as collateral. This was again developed in response to demand from clients, who wanted instant loans against their jewellery as collateral. This prevents them from having to go to exploitative pawnbrokers or money lenders, who give much worse rates and often reclaim the jewellery(selling it to a third party) before the loan due date.
Terms for Secured Loans only:
Upto 80% of value of jewellery/fixed deposits/savings account balance retained with SEWA Bank till loan is fully paid up.
