The North East Small Finance Bank has entered a transformative phase with its strategic merger with fintech unicorn Slice. This is being touted as a landmark integration that marks the major step toward strengthening financial inclusion in the North-East region and beyond. NESFB was facing problems for the last 18 months pertaining to operational inefficiencies, financial instability and a decline in assets. This nascent bank that once served the low-income groups and small enterprise sank under its own weight because of corruption and mismanagement. The RBI intervened in all these issues and paved the way for a much-needed merger with Slice to restore stability and confidence.
The NESFB institution has had a leadership rejuvenation catalyst with the appointment of Satish Kumar Kalra as its new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Kalra has led the institution to strong strategic direction with more than four decades of leadership tenure in banking institutions. Over the tenure period, total assets of NESFB have been increased to Rs 920 crore while CRAR continues to hover around 23.5%, quite strong for immediate considerations of financial sustainability. With the headquarters in Guwahati, the acquisition with Slice has enabled NESFB to adopt sophisticated technology, a customer-centric approach and data-driven policies. The entity has thereby acquired a pan-India reach and significantly upgraded its digital banking offerings. In order to address the evolving requirements of customers to be at par with this dynamic market, NESFB has developed new and innovative financial products.
An important focus area for the bank post-merger is employee growth and skill development. NESFB employs 1,800 employees from North-East and is aiming for a tremendous scale-up in employment in the current year. The current major drive is to hiring skilled professionals, especially those in technologies and artificial intelligence, where the bank aims to have a 500-member team in Bangalore. Besides financial revival, NESFB continues to pursue the founding goal of financial inclusion. The bank continues to strengthen micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), rural businesses, and women-led enterprise in North East. Through better governance and good risk management, NESFB has emerged as one of the most trusted and customer-friendly banks in India.
