The partnership will digitally enhance last-mile credit in sixteen districts of Tamil Nadu
India, 17th October 2019: Avanti Finance, a digital financial inclusion platform, has partnered with ASSEFA, the Association for Sarva Seva Farms, to provide non -collateralized loans to small farmers, micro retailers and women entrepreneurs. Over 20,000 people from 300 villages in Madurai and Trichy will get access to credit at affordable rates in a timely manner to enhance their livelihoods.
Flexibility in terms of quantum of loan, any amount between Rs. 10,000 – 35,000 for a range of tenors, can be availed by the borrowers within age group of 18-59 years through Avanti’s digital platform. The loan is disbursed directly to the bank account. Repayments, scheduled in a way that they match borrowers cash flows, can be made directly to Avanti through UPI / USSD / NEFT / IMPS transfers/ NACH/ eNACH.
The process is operationalized through SMBT’s (Sarvodaya Mutual Benefit Trust) and the Internet Saathi’s to analyze value chains and feasibility of livelihood activity in a given geography. Both the SMBT and Internet Saathis’s are incubated by ASSEFA and are run “by the women, for the women”.
S Loganathan, Founder and Executive Director- ASSEFA said, “We are glad to be associated with Avanti Finance. ASSEFA and Avanti have partnered to make credit accessible, affordable and frictionless in Tamil Nadu. It can go a long way in bridging the credit gap in the area and encourage entrepreneurship. It will also provide insights into the association and role of SMBTs, which are exclusively created to execute community-level programs and have a strong connect with the target segment. The association backed by ASSEFA’s strong network will strengthen the credit system in the state of Tamil Nadu”.
Rahul Gupta, CEO- Avanti Finance, said, “Rural India has limited access to quick and affordable credit. Our partnership with ASSEFA provides an opportunity to combine the skills and knowledge built at the grassroot level with a digital lending framework to deploy products that potentially empower the users in enhancing their incomes. We look forward to our contribution towards enhancing financial inclusion in Tamil Nadu and across India”.
ASSEFA has been engaged in the development of rural communities for more than five decades. Being a grassroots-organization, ASSEFA works closely with rural women to understand their needs and designs community level welfare programs to address these gaps. ASSEFA’s mission is to improve the socio-economic and cultural status of the rural communities and enhance their skills and self-management capacity in the six states of Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
About Avanti Finance:
Avanti Finance Pvt Ltd is a digital financial inclusion platform operating under an NBFC license with a vision to make affordable financial services accessible to a 100 million unserved and underserved households. The company is co-founded by Mr Ratan Tata & Mr Nandan Nilekani through their philanthropy capital.
About ASSEFA:
Association for Sarva Seva Farms (ASSEFA) focusses on the transformation and distribution of wastelands into cultivable lands among the landless/poor farmers (Bhoodan Movement). Driven by their founder’s philosophy and the community’s growing need, the organisation designs and delivers comprehensive programmes aimed at all-round development of the community. In its five-decade-long journey, ASSEFA has initiated a welfare programme in the area of health, women empowerment, livestock rearing and agriculture. ASSEFA has a wide network of Internet Saathis operating in their areas of intervention.
