Page 5 - Microfinance Industry

FinMin to hold meeting with MFI players on Wed amid rising bad loans

Finance Ministry will hold a meeting with microfinance institutions (MFIs) on Wednesday amid rising bad loans and delinquencies across all types of lenders in the sector. According to sources, the Department of Financial Services Secretary is likely to chair the meeting with senior officials of MFIs here. The meeting assumes significance as it comes with the sector showing signs of stress and rising delinquencies. Credit to the microfinance sector by banks (including SFBs), NBFC-MFIs and other NBFCs has decelerated during the current financial year so far after witnessing rapid growth during the last three years, according to a latest report of the Reserve Bank. "The microfinance sector is showing signs of stress, with rising delinquencies across all types of lenders and ticket sizes. During H1:2024-25, share of stressed assets increased, with 31-180 days past due (dpd) rising from 2.15 per cent in March 2024 to 4.30 per cent in September 2024," said the RBI's Financial Stability .

CreditAccess Grameen shares soar 10% on Jan 2 on heavy volume

CreditAccess Grameen shares: Spandana Sphoorty share price gained 3.6 per cent intraday today; Equitas Small Finance Bank 2.2 per cent; IndusInd Bank 1.9 per cent; and Ujjivan SFB 1 per cent

Stress in microfinance sector doubles in April to September period: RBI

Earlier, the RBI had warned that some NBFCs, including MFIs, were adopting a "growth-at-any-cost" approach and cautioned that regulatory action would be taken if necessary

IndusInd Bank seeks to offload Rs 1,573 crore of microfinance loans

Bank sets reserve price of Rs 85 crore to sell loans from over a million accounts

Spandana Sphoorty nears record low; tanks 73% in CY24 on growth concerns

Spandana Sphoorty Financial shares hit a multi-year low of Rs 309, down 3% on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade, and inched towards its all-time low of Rs 288.75 touched on June 20, 2022

MFIN to further tighten norms for micro-loans from January 2025

Reduces MFIs per borrower to three from four

After RBI strictures, MFIs tighten norms to make lending more responsible

After repeated strictures from the Reserve Bank on the industry's practices, the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) on Monday announced a slew of changes to make lending to the bottom of the pyramid more "responsible". From January 1, the self-regulatory organisation's members will ensure that a single MFI client's borrowings are limited to three MFIs as against four at present and the total indebtedness of a borrower including MFI and unsecured retail loans is capped at Rs 2 lakh, a statement said. The body's chief executive and director Alok Misra hoped that the sector will become "more resilient" with the new measures. Over the last few months, the RBI has gone public with its concerns on a slew of practices adopted by the MFIs, including usurious high interest rates, multiple lendings to single borrowers and even practices like not crediting loan repayments to the rightful accounts despite being paid by borrowers. On October 21, the RBI also asked four entities including

Belstar Microfinance to prioritise consolidation over growth in coming qtrs

MFI's stressed loans rise sharply to 3.5% in September from 1.47%

India's shadow lenders retreat as bad loans increase amid crackdown

Bajaj Finance, one of the largest unsecured lenders, is cutting the number of clients with multiple loans, according to a presentation

Indian lenders face growing defaults from over-leveraged retail borrowers

Defaults have also risen in the microfinance segment, which includes loans given to low-income borrowers.

MFI lenders turn cautious, loan portfolio declines as delinquencies rise

Overleveraging by customers is a pain point in the industry, said a regulatory report in FY23

Crackdown on four NBFCs: 14% spread on loans prompted RBI action

The regulator took such stern action amid a risk of rural distress due to unfair practices

MFI CreditAccess reports rise in stress in Q2; collection efficiency dips

The collection efficiency, including arrears, declined to 96.2 per cent in Q2 FY25 from 97.9 per cent in Q1 FY25

CreditAccess Grameen share price hit 52-wk low on weak Q2 disbursements

The fall in CreditAccess Grameen share price came after the company's disbursements dropped 19% annually to Rs 4,004 cr in Q2FY25, from Rs 4,966 crore in Q2FY24.

Why have microfinance stocks hit 52-week lows today? Check details here

The microfinance industry is currently facing a significant rise in delinquencies, primarily driven by increasing borrower indebtedness, apart from other factors.

Microfinance growth driven more by lenders' loan disbursement than demand

Borrowers are being chased by different kinds of lenders -- universal banks, small finance banks, NBFCs, MFIs and fintechs

Delinquencies in microfinance sector may push NBFC-MFI credit cost: ICRA

Increasing delinquencies in the microfinance sector is likely to push up the NBFC-MFI credit cost to 320-340 bps in 2024-25 from 220 bps in the previous financial year, according to an Icra report. Non-banking financial companies microfinance institutions' (NBFC-MFIs) AUM growth is also likely to moderate to 17-19 per cent in the current financial year from 29 per cent in 2023-24 amid rising concerns about asset quality, it said. The report said the robust growth in the last two years has accentuated concerns about potential overleveraging of borrowers in certain regions. "Further, farmers' protests and the Karz Mukti Abhiyan in certain regions, especially Punjab and Haryana, have impacted collections and the asset quality. "This, along with climatic conditions and operational challenges, including employee attrition, would keep the asset quality under pressure in the near term. As per Icra's estimates, non-performing assets (NPAs) have increased by 30 bps in Q1 FY2025," it ...

Microfinance industry AUM up 22% at Rs 1.4 trillion till June, shows data

The loan amount of Rs 26,223 crore was disbursed in Q1 FY24-25 through 56.8 lakh accounts, including disbursement of owned as well as managed portfolios

CreditAccess Grameen up for sale: Dutch owner seeks $2.7 billion valuation

The Amsterdam-based CreditAccess India B V holds a 66.56% stake in CreditAccessGrameen, and is aiming for a valuation of around $2.7 billion in the potential deal

Budget wishlist: MFIs seek equity support, govt guarantee for bank loans

Sa-dhan has also suggested a special fund for the northeastern states in view of the unrest in Manipur, which has hit micro lenders that extended loans in the state