“We are delighted to receive the license and excited to partner with BharatPe to create this new age bank, with a strong team. We aspire to be India’s first Digital Bank," Centrum Group's Executive Chairman Jaspal Bindra said.
Reserve Bank of India issued a small finance bank (SFB) license to the BharatPe-Centrum consortium on Tuesday. The SFB has been named ‘Unity Small Finance Bank’. It would now take over assets and liabilities of the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank.
The new entity will take over the assets and liabilities of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank. Former State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar would now preside as the chairman of the BharatPe board. He had completed his tenure as the chairman of SBI in October 2020.
The apex banker had given "in-principle" approval to Centrum Financial Services for setting up a small finance bank. This created inroads for it to take over the beleaguered PMC Bank.
The approval was in response to an expression of interest announced by PMC Bank as part of its reconstruction plans in 2020. RBI said it received multiple proposals but found Centrum Financial Services and BharatPe's proposal most feasible.
A joint release issued by Centrum and BharatPe informed that Centrum's MSME and micro finance business would be integrated into the newly constituted Unity Small Finance Bank.
"It is the first time ever that two partners are uniting equally to build a Bank. The proposed business model is one of collaboration and open architecture, uniting all its stakeholders to deliver a seamless digital experience," the release stated.