ESAF celebrates 30th anniversary
Chennai, 15th March: ESAF Small Finance Bank, a leading social bank headquartered in Kerala, celebrated its fifth founding day. It also celebrated the 30th anniversary of ESAF, which started as an NGO in 1992. District Collector Haritha V Kumar IAS inaugurated the function at ESAF Bhavan, Mannuthy. K. Paul Thomas, ESAF Founder and MD & CEO ESAF Bank delivered the Founder’s Day Message. P.R. Ravi Mohan, Chairman, ESAF Bank presided over the event. Adv. K. Rajan, Minister of Revenue delivered the felicitation message.
Speaking on the occasion K. Paul Thomas said, “32 percent of our branches are located in unbanked rural areas. We have around five million women borrowers across India. ESAF has always been a lending support to small entrepreneurs and self-help groups for empowering women. ESAF has also set up schools and hospitals for rural communities. Besides the success of business, social commitment makes us more satisfying. We are on a journey of fulfilling our vision of reducing social inequality in the society.”
The book ‘Joyful Stories of Transformation’, which showcased selected success stories of ESAF, was released by Mereena Paul, Chairperson and MD, ESAF Financial Holdings by pres enting the same to Anne Wang, Director, Opportunity Inter national Australia. The Mahila Housing Loan Scheme was launched by Dr. V.A. Joseph, Direct or, ESAF Bank and George K. John, Executive Vice President. Vinod Vasudhevan, Alex George, C. P. Mohanan, Saneesh Singh, Directors, ESAF Bank, M. G. Ajayan, George Thomas, Executive Vice Presidents, ES AF Bank, Idicheria Ninan, President, ESAF Foundation, Alok Thomas Paul, MD, CEDAR Retail and Saleena George, Chai rman, ESAF Cooperative also spoke on the occasion.
About the bank: ESAF Small Finance Bank is Kerala’s first small finance bank, started its microfinancing operations in 1995. Founded by K. Paul Thomas, the Thrissur-based bank is a pioneer in developing a formal and structured form of lending at the village level by forming mutually trusted groups. In 2017, it became a small finance bank with the RBI license, becoming the first bank to get licensed post-independence in Kerala. ESAF was successful in fostering a culture of financial discipline and also encouraged women to become financially stable to support their households in the remote and unbanked/underbanked regions of the country. With their consistent growth and inevitable presence in the market along with good customer relations, the bank has become exceptional covering vast domains with their outlets and ATMs.
