After big-ticket recoveries, SBI turns to MSME and retail borrowers

According to SBI, at least 30-40 per cent of people pay following a call

India’s biggest lender State Bank of India is shifting focus to recoveries and resolution in the small business and retail segment as most big-ticket stressed accounts have been dealt with enhanced recoveries.

It will boost the use of call centres for recoveries of retail and MSMEs loans and also plans to enlist business correspondents for such tasks in semi-urban and rural areas.

It is redeploying bankers in Stressed Asset Resolution Group (SARG) and has trimmed the strength of those working at this unit to about 1,600, from a peak of 2,000 a few quarters ago.

Swaminathan J, managing director-risk, compliance and SARG, SBI,