SBI to raise share of financial inclusion to 20% by March 2022

To cut C/I ratio to 38%; hive off client servicing to BC channel

State Bank of India (SBI) expects to raise the share of the newly created business vertical — financial inclusion and micro-markets (FI&MM) — from the current 12 per cent to 20 per cent by March 2022.

The emphasis will be on enhancing income-generation work (deposits and loans) at around 8,000 branches under the FI&MM vertical. This will be completed once customer servicing — currently handled by the branches — is shifted to the business correspondents (BC) network to bring down the cost-to-income (C/I) ratio.

SBI had recently created a separate FI&MM vertical within the bank with an exclusive focus on rural and