CreditAccess Grameen expands presence in five new states

Leading microfinance institution CreditAccess Grameen Ltd said on Monday that it expanded its footprint in five new states during June to September.

After setting up operations in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, the company's business activities have expanded to 887 branches with 9,817 employees spread across 210 districts in 13 states and union territory.

"Our foray in five new states is in line with the company's contiguous district-based expansion strategy with a strong rural focus," said Managing Director and CEO Udaya Kumar Hebbar.

"There is still significant scope for penetration of microfinance, specifically in deep rural and unbanked areas where low-income households lack access to easy and affordable credit," he said in a statement.

CreditAccess Grameen's focus is on strengthening technology platforms and increasing the robustness of its systems and processes as it grows in new markets. "We believe that this will help us to build high-quality loan books and deliver consistent growth over the coming quarters," said Hebbar.

The company's promoter is CreditAccess Asia NV, a multinational company specialising in micro and small enterprise financing which is backed by institutional investors and has a micro-lending experience through its subsidiaries in four countries in Asia.