State Bank of India has opened its first ”affordable housing loan” cell in Mumbai, which will provide a platform for its customers to interact with the bank. The bank has initiated this project in association with a few builders operating in the affordable housing segment.
The first facility has been set up in Nalla Sopara where the bank has its branch. The bank representatives said that the facility will be set up near localities where affordable housing projects are undertaken. The cell is a discrete delivery structure, which has been designed to offer a simple model for appraisal / sanction methodology suited to the affordable housing segment.
Inadequate supply of houses as well as absence of credible builders in this field has left this segment untapped until recently.
Initially, the focus would be on housing loan in the range of Rs 8-15-lakh. The bank would also provide ATM facility and Internet kiosks at the places where such cells would be opened.
Customers of the bank would have the facility of making cash payments even after business hours through a customer service point of a banking correspondent at a nearby location. The distribution of loan would be done through the bank branches only.