VFS Capital, one of the oldest microfinance companies that operate in the country, has filed an application for a small finance bank licence, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.
The lender with a Rs 942 crore portfolio outstanding is seeking the licence for the second time after being rejected earlier in 2015.
“During the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the Reserve Bank of India has received one application under the guidelines for ‘on tap’ licensing of small finance banks in the private sector dated December 05, 2019 from VFS Capital Limited,” RBI announced Wednesday.
VFS was one of the 72 applicants which had applied for a small finance bank license a decade back when the regulator first mooted the idea of differentiated banks. That time, it was known as Village Financial Services.
The Kolkata-headquartered micro lender started working with the bottom of the pyramid borrowers in 1996-97 and was one of the earlier ones to get an NBFC license. At present, it has nearly half a million borrowers across over 22,021 villages in 15 states.
The regulator made the application process “on-tap” in 2019.
