The origin of Jana Small Finance Bank is a classic case of good intentions executed methodically with a definite purpose and the larger benefit in mind.
What started out as an incubated initiative called Sanghamitra Urban Programme (SUP) is today Jana Small Finance Bank, an organization committed to make the best of banking products and services available across all strata of society.
Jana’s roots can be traced back to an outstanding microfinance institution called Sanghamitra Rural Financial Services (SRFS) — set up by one of India’s most respected rural NGOs, Myrada (Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency). Our first group loan in October 2000 marked the earliest instance of urban microfinance in India. Within a span of 16 months, we had loaned INR 10 million towards helping the underserved populace gain a better quality of life.
Realizing that the answer lay in setting up a full-service microfinance institution, in 2006, we transformed into Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS) that focused on improving the lives of the urban poor. With time, JFS gained global recognition as one of the world’s most trusted and innovative financial institutions working on the problem of financial inclusion. In November 2015, we received the coveted Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame award. In March 2016, JFS received the VCCircle award for the best financial services firm in India that has received venture capital funding.
A modest core team at the helm of Jana has been trying to understand the aspirations and challenges of the urban poor, and the role that organized financial services could play in fulfilling these aspirations. We realized that the urban underserved needed more than just small loans. They sought a safe haven for their hard-earned savings and a benefactor behind their entrepreneurial dreams.
Our core belief of ‘empowerment and fulfillment’, along with the learning and realization we’ve had along the way, continue to shape our thought process and sharpen the edges of our operational philosophy.
As Jana Small Finance Bank, we are now working tirelessly to bring the best of banking options to the growing and aspirational urban underserved and unserved.
We tell them: Likho Apni Kahani.