ICICI Bank launches instant overdraft facility for MSMEs

ICICI Bank has launched an instant overdraft facility for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), adding to its digitised offerings. “InstaOD” enables few lakhs of pre-qualified current account customers to avail draw up to Rs 15 lakh without visiting a branch and submitting physical documents.

The digital process has incorporated an additional level of authentication in order to make the security of the process robust, the bank said. The overdraft is renewable on an annual basis, depending on the customer’s repayment track records. The facility will also be extended to MSME customers of other banks shortly.

Users now get the option to avail InstaOD when logging into their ICICI accounts through mobile app or website. After confirming their details, application for a loan can be submitted through a four-step process.

Digital lending

ICICI’s latest service rides on the wave to digitise lending and payments. In the recent past, the bank has also launched an instant credit card, where certain pre-approved customers of the bank can get a virtual credit card much before the physical card is delivered to them. A physical card will be sent to the customer’s address in 5-7 days.

It also began small ticket lending in a partnership with Paytm. This short-term credit is interest-free for 45 days with an upper limit of Rs 20,000. A similar micro-credit scheme was recently launched for Ola users.  ICICI has also introduced instant disbursal of personal loans through ATMs, instant opening of Public Provident Fund account and digital enrolment for the National Pension Scheme (NPS).

Its competitor HDFC Bank said that it would start offering a virtual credit card for customers through its PayZapp wallet. Startups in the digital lending business are also extending their services in segments where big players do not foray. FlexiLoans, a digital SME lending startup has disbursed over 2,500 loans with an average ticket size of around Rs 5-10 lakh. Digital non-banking finance company Capital Float reported 2,000 loans disbursed by October 2017.