Sonata Finance Private Limited began operations in 2006 and is headquartered in Allahabad. It provides customers with insurance and savings products, emergency loans, income-generating loans and a host of other financial products and services to help low-income Indian women. The aim of the bank is to help microfinance achieve financial self-sustainability using training, technology and processes to ensure that their customers have access to the best of banking. The bank has adopted both group lending as well as individual lending as its approach, lending funds to individuals and groups as big as 10 to 20 women.

Approach

• Cash-free operations: Loans are disbursed by Sonata Finance Private Limited via bearer cheques. The collection is either deposited in the bank’s branch offices or the bank’s accounts in commercial banks as doing so reduces risk and ensures that the amount of cash floating around is relatively low.
• Focus on women: The bank offers exclusive products and services for women to help them gain easy access to finances that can be invested in their children or their household.
• Customised products: The bank has tailored loans with low repayments after considering the various wage structures, income-generating and consumption activities to ensure that emergency distress sales are avoided. The first loan sanctioned is usually quite low in order to help customers develop collective responsibility and credit discipline.