Andhra Bank to provide edu loans to ICFAI students

Andhra Bank on Wednesday signed an MoU with the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) for providing educational loans to the students who get admission to the university.

Speaking on the occasion, T S Narayanasami, chairman and managing director of Andhra Bank, said, "Students of ICFAI henceforth will get educational loans on liberalised guidelines from all the branches of our bank."

Under the scheme, students who get admission to ICFAI are eligible for a loan of up to Rs 10 lakh with a margin of 10 per cent with a fixed rate of interest of nine per cent.

According to him, if the interest is serviced during the gestation period, an incentive of 0.5 per cent on the interest will be allowed.

The bank has also offered a 0.5 per cent concession for prompt repayment which will be credited to the loan account on the commencement of repayment. The scheme offers loans without any collateral security and only a guarantee of the parent is required.

A health cover for four members of the family for Rs 25,000, life insurance of the parent for Rs 2.35 lakh and a life cover of Rs one lakh for the student are the other added incentives that the bank is offering under the scheme.

"In the last 10 days, the bank has given 300 in-principal sanctions to the tune of Rs 16 crore to the students of the ICFAI Business School," R Balakrishnan, executive director of Andhra Bank, said.

The bank during the current financial year has sanctioned loans to 4,548 students to the tune of Rs 245.75 crore. The bank's educational portfolio this fiscal has recorded a year-on-year growth of 30 per cent over December last year.