96% PMC Bank depositors to be paid upfront: Unity SFB

Unity Small Finance Bank, which has taken over the failed cooperative lender PMC Bank, on Thursday said all small depositors with under Rs 5 lakh of deposits -- who form 96 per cent of the customer base -- can take their entire money out now or keep it in the new bank and earn 7 per cent interest annually.

On January 25, the finance ministry had approved the merger of PMC Bank with Unity SFB, protecting it from liquidation and bringing relief to all stakeholders.

Unity Small Finance Bank also said all the around 110 branches of the merged bank and over 1,100 of its employees will operate under the new label now.

Unity SFB said it will repay the full principal amount due to all depositors, as per the scheme of amalgamation, and all the 96 per cent of depositors, who have up to Rs 5 lakhs, will be paid upfront (subject to completion of the requirements as per Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation rules).

However, those depositors who choose to retain their money with Unity SFB can earn 7 per cent annually.

Institutional depositors will receive preference shares worth 80 per cent of their deposits and equity share warrants for the remaining 20 per cent in lieu of their eligible deposit balances.

The warrants will be converted into equity shares at the time of Unity's IPO.

Unity Small Finance Bank began operations in November 2021 with shareholders capital of Rs 1,100 and an asset based of over Rs 2400 crore.

The promoters -- Centrum Group and digital payments player BharatPe -- have committed a total capital infusion of up to Rs 3,000 crore. It has an active customer base of over 2 lakh now.