On-tap licences for small finance banks to see many applicants this year

The on-tap licensing of SFBs comes even as the banking regulator has not officially said it has closed the tap for universal banking licences

You have a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley and a BMW in your garage. But feel only a banking licence will help you drive into El Dorado. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) on-tap universal banking licence policy announced four years ago raised the hopes of many who entertained such thoughts; none were issued. It’s time to dream again: Mint Road is set to come out with “on-tap” licensing norms, albeit for small finance banks (SFBs) by end-August this year.

H P Singh, chairman and managing director of the Gurugram-based micro-finance institution (MFI), Satin Creditcare Networks is an aspirant. “We have 1,163 branches