Renaldo97D at 08:36, 4 March 2026

2026-03-04T08:36:38Z

New page

{{short description|Indian small finance bank}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name = ESAF Small Finance Bank
| logo = ESAF Bank Logo.svg
| logo_alt = Logo of ESAF Small Finance Bank
| logo_caption = ESAF Small Finance Bank logo since 10 March 2017
| former_name = ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt. Ltd.
| image = File:Registered & Corporate office of ESAF Small Finance Bank.jpg
| image_caption = Registered and corporate office at [[Mannuthy]], Thrissur
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{Unbulleted_list|{{BSE|544020}}|{{NSE|ESAFSFB}}}}
| num_locations_year = 2025
| area_served = [[India]]
| key_people = {{Unbulleted_list|P. R. Ravi Mohan<br>{{small|([[Chairperson]])}}|K. Paul Thomas<br>{{small|([[Managing director|MD]] & [[Chief executive officer|CEO]])}}}}
| industry = [[Banking]]
| num_employees = 4,100
| num_employees_year = 2022
| num_locations = 788 branches
| revenue = {{up}} {{INRconvert|3141|c}} (FY23)<ref name="fy23"/>
| operating_income = {{up}} {{INRconvert|893|c}} (FY23)<ref name="fy23"/>
| profit = {{up}} {{INRconvert|302|c}} (FY23)<ref name="fy23">{{cite news |title=ESAF Bank net profit soars 452% in FY23 |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/esaf-bank-net-profit-soars-452-in-fy23/article66837777.ece |access-date=31 October 2023 |work=BusinessLine |date=11 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
| website = {{url|https://www.esaf.bank.in}}
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2017|03|10|df=yes}}
| location = [[Mannuthy]], [[Thrissur]] (Registered & Corporate Office)
}}

'''ESAF Small Finance Bank''' (formerly known as '''ESAF Microfinance and Investments''') is an Indian [[small finance bank]] headquartered in [[Thrissur]], [[Kerala]], providing banking services and small loans to the [[underbanked]]. Having started its operations as an [[NGO]] in 1992 under the name of ''Evangelical Social Action Forum'', ESAF Microfinance was a non-banking finance company and [[microfinance]] institution (NBFC-MFI), licensed by the [[Reserve Bank of India]] (RBI). It became a small finance bank in March 2017 and started operating in January 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=sundarajan |first=Priya |date=2017-03-17 |title=ESAF Small Finance Bank launched |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/esaf-small-finance-bank-kicks-off-operations/article9589191.ece |access-date=2024-03-31 |website=BusinessLine |language=en}}</ref>

==History and operations==
On 11 March 1992, K. Paul Thomas,<ref>{{cite web|title=ESAF to graduate into a bank soon|url=https://english.manoramaonline.com/business/companies/esaf-to-graduate-into-a-bank-soon.html|website=OnManorama|access-date=18 March 2018|date=18 September 2015}}</ref> along with Mereena Paul and a few friends, started ESAF in a small house in [[Mannuthy]] named ''Little''.<ref name=passline>{{cite web|title=ESAF SFB fulfils banking dreams of common man|url=http://passlinebusinessmagazine.in/component/content/article/25-slider/675-esaf-sfb-fulfils-banking-dreams-pf-commom-man|website=passlinebusinessmagazine.in|access-date=18 March 2018|language=en-gb|date=4 August 2017|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616235044/http://passlinebusinessmagazine.in/component/content/article/25-slider/675-esaf-sfb-fulfils-banking-dreams-pf-commom-man|url-status=dead}}</ref> Jacob Samuel, one of the co-founders, coined the name ESAF, which is an acronym for Evangelical Social Action Forum. At inception, ESAF had five life members, seven annual members and eight honorary members. ESAF society was registered under the Travancore Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act. The initial president was Itty Mathew; J. Danabai was the vice president, Thomas was the secretary, supported by Samuel as joint secretary and Arun Ramakrishnan as treasurer.<ref>{{cite web|title=History at a glance|url=http://esafindia.org/home/history-at-a-glance-.html|website=ESAF India|access-date=20 March 2018|language=en-gb}}</ref>

ESAF started providing interest free loans in 1995 as one of the first microfinance institutions in the country and the first microfinance company in Kerala. It became ESAF Small Finance Bank after receiving the first banking license in [[Kerala]] since independence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/rbi-issues-small-finance-bank-license-to-esaf-116111801066_1.html |title=RBI issues Small Finance Bank license to ESAFurl |newspaper=Business Standard |date=18 November 2016 |access-date=17 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/esaf-ties-up-with-fis-for-micro-finance-bank/articleshow/55605665.cms
|title=ESAF ties up with FIS for micro finance bank |newspaper=Economic Times |date=24 November 2016 |access-date=17 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/the-small-finance-bank-will-be-profitable-within-first-year-of-operations-k-paul-thomas-116061600298_1.html |title=The small finance bank will be profitable within first year of operations: K Paul Thomas |newspaper=Business Standard |date=16 June 2016 |access-date=17 December 2016}}</ref>

On 17 March 2017, [[Pinarayi Vijayan]], the [[Chief Minister of Kerala]] officially inaugurated ESAF Small Finance Bank at [[Thrissur]], [[Kerala]]. By August 2017, the bank had 3,750 employees, 284 branches, and a presence in 11 states.<ref name=passline />

In March 2018, a year after its launch, the bank had expanded to 4,000 employees and 400 branches, with {{currency|2,200|INR}} crore (US${{To USD|22000|IND|round=yes}} million) in deposits and {{currency|4,200|INR}} crore (US${{To USD|42000|IND|round=yes}} million) in loans.<ref>{{cite web|title=ESAF Crosses Rs.2300 Crore Retail Deposit in the first year - India Education Diary|url=http://indiaeducationdiary.in/esaf-crosses-rs-2300-crore-retail-deposit-first-year/|website=India Education Diary|access-date=20 March 2018|date=12 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=ESAF Bank to celebrate first anniversary|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/esaf-bank-to-celebrate-first-anniversary/article23038308.ece|access-date=20 March 2018|work=The Hindu|date=11 March 2018|language=en-IN}}</ref>

ESAF Small Finance Bank received RBI approval to operate as [[scheduled bank]] in December 2018, making it the fifth scheduled bank from Kerala. This will reduce the bank's cost of funds, while increasing the bank's ability and obligation to provide services.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/with-rbi-nod-esaf-is-now-scheduled-bank/article25853930.ece|title=With RBI nod, ESAF is now scheduled bank|access-date=9 January 2019 |work=The Hindu BusinessLine |date=28 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The bank's net profit increased to {{currency|190.39|INR}} crore in the 2019-2020 financial year from {{currency|90.28|INR}} crore the previous year.<ref>{{cite news |title=ESAF Small Finance Bank Q4 profit up over 3-fold |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/earnings/esaf-small-finance-bank-q4-profit-up-over-3-fold/articleshow/69311821.cms |access-date=16 November 2019 |work=The Economic Times |date=13 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ESAF|url=https://www.esafbank.com/esaf-investor-info/|access-date=2020-11-03|website=www.esafbank.com}}</ref>

On 26 March 2020, the bank received approval from [[Securities and Exchange Board of India|SEBI]] for issuing its {{currency|976|INR}} crore [[initial public offering]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ESAF Small Finance Bank gets Sebi nod for IPO|url=https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/esaf-small-finance-bank-gets-133824412.html|access-date=2021-03-24|website=in.finance.yahoo.com|language=en-IN}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating ESAF Small Finance Bank at Thrissur.jpg|Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating ESAF Small Finance Bank at Thrissur in March, 2017
File:K. Paul Thomas, MD & CEO, ESAF Bank.jpg|K. Paul Thomas, Founder of ESAF, MD & CEO of ESAF Small Finance Bank
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Banks}}
* [[Banking in India]]
* [[List of banks in India]]
* [[Indian Financial System Code]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Banking in India}}
{{Financial services in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:ESAF, Small Finance Bank}}
[[Category:Microfinance companies of India]]
[[Category:Small finance banks]]
[[Category:Financial services companies in Thrissur]]
[[Category:Indian companies established in 1992]]
[[Category:Financial services companies established in 1992]]
[[Category:Private sector banks in India]]
[[Category:1992 establishments in Kerala]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange]]

ESAF Small Finance Bank - Revision history

Renaldo97D at 08:36, 4 March 2026