SBI Further Empowers Farmers with YONO Krishi; Introduces Kisan Credit Card Review on the Platform

Kisan Credit Card (KCC) 

* Bank introduces KCC Review feature on the YONO Krishi platform which has been witnessing great response from farmers

* YONO KCC Review to enable farmers access their KCC limit on YONO in just four clicks

* YONO KCC Review to benefit more than 75 lakh farmers

* YONO KCC review will empower farmers to embrace digital technology and make them future-ready

* YONO Krishi platform offers a one-stop solution to all farmers’ agricultural needs

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) continues to empower its farmer customers by offering them technology backed agricultural solutions with YONO Krishi. The recently launched platform that caters to all the requirements of farmers – from sowing to harvesting and then selling – has been receiving significant traction from the farmers. In the current unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SBI is set to make lives easier for its farmer customers by introducing the KCC Review option on YONO Krishi. With this added feature, farmers will no longer need to travel the distance to visit the bank branch to apply for a revision in their KCC limit. KCC Review option on YONO Krishi will help farmers apply for the same in just 4 clicks from the comfort of their homes without any paperwork.

Recognizing the fact that not all farmers may have access to smartphones, SBI has also streamlined the KCC review process at its branches. KCC Review on YONO Krishi is expected to benefit more than 75 lakh farmers having KCC accounts with SBI. The feature of paperless KCC review will not only help farmers save costs and effort involved in applying for revision of the KCC limit, but also make the process quicker for them especially during the harvesting season.

Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI said, “Introduction of YONO KCC Review on YONO Krishi is SBI’s yet another initiative to make our farmer customers, future-ready by offering them constant digital innovations pertaining to their agricultural needs. This new feature has been added keeping in mind millions of our valuable farmer customers’ convenience and safety. We believe that they will now be experiencing hassle-free application process for their KCC limit revision. With a Digital-First approach, it is SBI’s continuous endeavor to provide innovative digital banking solutions to all our diverse set of customers across the country.”

Apart from KCC Review, the multi-lingual YONO Krishi platform - which is bringing-in technology to farmers in more than 10 vernacular languages - is offering services such as YONO Khata, YONO Bachat, YONO Mitra and YONO Mandi to its farmer customers. These unique offerings facilitate farmers with Agri loan products, an online marketplace to buy and rent agricultural inputs and equipment, customized farming advisory, investment, and crop insurance products, instant agri gold loan, upgrade to scientific farming practices, and much more. With YONO Krishi, SBI has opened the doors of digital agriculture to farmers. In just one year of its launch, YONO Krishi has disbursed more than 14 lakh Agri Gold loans and has seen more than 15 lakh clicks on YONO Mandi and YONO Mitra

YONO itself has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two and a half years since its launch. It has seen more than 58 million downloads with over 26 million registered users. YONO has partnered with over 80 e-commerce players in more than 20 categories. The bank’s flagship banking and lifestyle platform – YONO is also tasting success in international markets such as the UK and Mauritius.

Ashwini Kumar Tewari Appointed as the New Managing Director and CEO of SBI Card

SBI Card, the country`s second largest credit card issuer announced that Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari has taken over as the company`s new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. The baton passes from Mr. Hardayal Prasad who retired on July 31, 2020, following a successful tenure during which the company achieved many significant accolades.  

Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari is a career banker with over 29 years’ experience with State Bank of India, including domestic and foreign postings. Prior to taking charge at SBI Card, since April 2017 Mr. Tewari held the position of Country Head of US Operations at SBI, based in New York. He also served as Vice Chairman of the State Bank of India (California) Board of Directors. 

Commenting on the development, Mr. Dinesh Khara, Managing Director, GB &S, State Bank of India said, “We are pleased to welcome Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari as the MD & CEO of SBI Card. He has demonstrated authentic, adept leadership in diverse positions both in India and abroad, during a successful career. We believe that he has the strategic vision and skill sets to lead the rapidly growing credit card business. We are confident that he will be able to further strengthen SBI Card’s market share and propel the business to new milestones.” 

Mr Ashwini Tewari, MD & CEO, SBI Card said, “We are at the cusp of an interesting time – there is a digital payments revolution sweeping India today and the country is firmly on the path to becoming a digital economy. SBI Card has achieved stellar success so far; and with the right focus on innovation, technology and customer service, the company remains poised to capitalise in a big way on the significantly underpenetrated Indian credit card market.  I look forward to steering SBI Card’s efforts to enhance customer experience at every touch point, fuelling growth and strengthening our position as industry leaders.” 

He added, “My immediate goal is to ensure sustained business performance as seen in the last two quarters, despite the challenging environment. In the long run, my endeavour would be to enable SBI Card to scale new heights along with the robust management team that has been driving the growth of this exceptional company.” 

Mr Tewari started his banking career with SBI in 1991 as a probationary officer. He has expertise in driving business, administration, and HR. He has experience in diverse leadership roles, extending across significant business functions like Credit, International and Retail Banking including Business Process Re-engineering. He was involved in the bank technology upgrades in Core Banking and Internet Banking platforms and acquisition of a new Trade Platform. 

In his previous assignments, he served as Regional Head and GM, East Asia Hong Kong and oversaw operations of SBI in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, and the neighbouring region. He also served as Deputy General Manager, (Operations & Information Systems), IBG, Mumbai and Head of SBI’s Cash Management Services. Mr. Tewari has served on the boards of International Institute of Bankers, New York and University of Washington Global Bankers Program. 

Mr. Tewari holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Electrical). He is also a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP). He has a CFPCM certificate and is ACAMS certified. 

About SBI Card  : SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited (formerly known as SBI Cards and Payment Services Private Limited) (“SBI Card”) is a non-banking financial company that offer extensive credit card portfolio to individual cardholders and corporate clients which includes lifestyle, rewards, travel & fuel and banking partnerships cards along with corporate cards covering all major cardholders’ segments in terms of income profile and lifestyle. It has diversified customer acquisition network that enables to engage prospective customers across multiple channels. SBI Card is a technology driven company. 

The Company is listed on National Stock Exchange (“NSE”) and The Bombay Stock Exchange (“BSE”). 

Note: The brand name of the company is ‘SBI Card’ and it is registered in the name of ‘SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited’. The company is trading under the entity name ‘SBICARD’ on stock exchanges. Visit www.sbicard.com for more details. 

SBI General Insurance Unveils New Brand Identity with Redesigned Logo and Tagline

New Logo & Tagline

* Cues the digitized and future- ready service approach

* Marks SBIG 2.0 Version, a new milestone post a decade long journey

* Appeals to masses and reinforces trust and security in SBIG

 

SBI General Insurance (SBIG) today announced the launch of its new corporate brand identity with redesigned logo and the tagline ‘Suraksha aur Bharosa dono’. Digitization has been always at core at SBIG, hence, at this stage the company has amalgamated focus and strategy in the new brand identity, with a swipe-able and fresh-looking logo.

The new purple colour logo conveys SBIG’s future readiness with services to its customers consisting traditionalists and modernists across India. The traditionalist customers are those who value trust, loyalty, value for money and integrity, whereas modernist look for flexibility and future readiness. Purple colour denotes youthfulness, wisdom and devotion.

Shri Dinesh Kumar Khara, Managing Director Global Banking & Subsidiaries, State Bank of India said, “SBI has always strived to ensure that our business is more than just banking as we touch the lives of people across India in many ways. Our commitment to nation building is complete and comprehensive.

With the new brand identity, we are delighted that SBI General is reinventing, and while contributing in insuring the nation, it is taking forward our legacy of trust. We are sure with enhanced digital capabilities, it is better positioned to serve its patrons and continue to provide positive and better customer experience.”

Pushan Mahapatra, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance said, “We take pride in having the parentage of SBI, and indeed, it is our privilege to carry forward the strong legacy of trust and security.

The insurance category in India is riddled with fear and insecurity. To address this well and live up to our brand that resonates with “trust”, we have derived the tagline - Security and Trust, both which in Hindi reads as – Suraksha and Bharosa, Dono.”

He added, “We are honoured with the faith that our customers have shown in us. With our new logo, we reinstate and reassure them that we are ready to serve their growing needs of services with new-age processes and services.”

In a decade long journey, SBIG has crossed multiple milestones like fastest company to cross Gross Written Premium of Rs.1000 crores in its 4th year, top private insurer to enter the industry post de-tariffication in Jan 2007, broke even and reported profits consistently since FY18, and from 17 branches in 2011. Over a decade, SBI General has been increasing its reach with 120+ branches & 253 locations pan-India. Its strong distribution partners add up to its reach to every nook and corner of India, with SBI’s over 22000 branch network, other financial and digital partners.

While having the strong foundation of these milestones, with new identity, SBI General Insurance has taken next step in the journey to become the first choice for every Indian’s general insurance needs. 

SBI Card Unveils Video Based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP)

SBI Card, India’s largest pure-play credit card issuer announced the launch of “Video Know Your Customer” (VKYC) feature to ensure zero contact, hassle free customer on-boarding process. This launch is in line with SBI Card’s endeavour to establish an end to end paperless, digital sourcing and onboarding process.  VKYC launch will not only have a substantial impact on fraud reduction, but it will also reduce cost of the KYC process by nearly half.

SBI Card has launched VKYC following recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines permitting VCIP as a method of establishing customer identity together with E-Sign process. VKYC offers a simple, presence-less journey where a customer does not have to physically interact with anyone.  In the digital customer onboarding journey, E-sign process helps in obtaining digital signature from the applicant on a digital application form. The Applicant receives his application form in PDF format for validating the details he had provided. After verifying details, applicant digitally e-signs the application form and card processing can commence.

Commenting on the launch of VKYC, Mr. Hardayal Prasad, MD & CEO, SBI Card said, “We are a technology driven company and have made strategic investments to create state-of-the art infrastructure, both at the back end and front end, to improve our user experience. Technology has been meticulously deployed to digitise the customer journey at every step and make the entire process seamless. In line with our vision to Make Life Simple, we are now happy to launch Video KYC - a secure, AI driven, digital journey for our customers. It provides ease of use along with a high degree of safety through a contactless process. In a scenario, where social distancing has become the norm, this feature holds immense relevance for our customers, and we expect it to gain significant traction.”

 

With social distancing being the new normal, VKYC enables a customer to undergo a completely presence-less journey, without the need to physically interact with anyone. VKYC process uses techniques such as facial recognition, Dynamic Verification code, AI enabled OCR, Live Photo Capture facial recognition, OCR, geotagging etc, as mandated by RBI guidelines, making it more safe and secure than physical KYC process.

Technology infrastructure and systems are a key competitive strength for SBI Card. SBI Card has made significant investments in technology infrastructure. Its technology systems leverage artificial intelligence and process automation technologies across functions, to improve customer experience and enhance operational efficiencies.

About SBI Card

SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited (formerly known as SBI Cards and Payment Services Private Limited) (“SBI Card”) is a non-banking financial company that offer extensive credit card portfolio to individual cardholders and corporate clients which includes lifestyle, rewards, travel & fuel and banking partnerships cards along with corporate cards covering all major cardholders’ segments in terms of income profile and lifestyle. It has diversified customer acquisition network that enables to engage prospective customers across multiple channels. SBI Card is a technology driven company.

P.S. The brand name of the company is ‘SBI Card’ and it is registered in the name of ‘SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited’. The company is trading under the entity name ‘SBICARD’ on stock exchanges.

Ten Indian companies make it to FT Top 500

Ten Indian companies are listed among Financial Time's top 500 global companies for 2009, in terms of market capitalization. The list was led by American energy giant ExxonMobil, followed by the oil major PetroChina and U.S. retailer Wal-Mart at the second and third positions respectively.


Reliance Industries is the only Indian company which has been listed among the top 100, taking the 75th place with a market capitalization of $47.25 billion. Last year, the company occupied the 80th position in the list. The companies were ranked by market capitalization, the greater the stock market value of a company, the higher it's ranking. Market capitalization is the share price as on March 31, 2009 multiplied by the number of shares issued.

Other Indian firms featuring in the list are Oil & Natural Gas (ONGC) (120th rank), National Thermal Power (NTPC) (138), Bharti Airtel (188), Infosys (330), Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) (345), ITC (362), State Bank of India (372), Tata Consultancy Services (483) and Hindustan Unilever (495).