Game-changers? Small finance banks fail to make a dent in banking space

When Ajay Kanwal, says “small finance banks (SFB) are in a fabulous position; it allows us to do financial inclusion in a very commercial context”, you must agree he is an optimist if there ever was one. For four years after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued 10 SFB licences, a rain-check shows little reason to be bullish like Kanwal, chief executive officer (CEO) of Jana Small Finance Bank (Jana SFB).

The latest available RBI consolidated data tells us that in FY18, these banks reported positive earnings before provisions and taxes, but high provisioning on account of the elevated level