Initiating a fast-trak process of loan disbursement, private lender HDFC Bank Limited has recently introduced digital loans against securities (LAS).
Reportedly, the bank has tied up with National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) for this.
“Through this product, we are looking at making this a fully digital process. Customers do not need to provide wet signatures while pledging shares. By tying up with NSDL, we have been able to remove that step altogether,” said Arvind Kapil, country head, unsecured loans, home and mortgage loans, HDFC Bank Limited.
Customers can initiate shares directly through their demat accounts and give necessary approvals while applying for the loan. The bank approves it instantly and the money is credited to their bank accounts, reported the Livemint.
“The average interest rate on these loans will be 10.5 per cent and the minimum loan amount will be Rs 1 lakh. The industry practice is to give 50 per cent of the value of pledged shares as loan,” he added.
“Private sector banks together account for about Rs 5,000-6,000 crore worth loans against securities. We control about 51 per cent of those loans. Public sector banks do not provide these numbers, so it is difficult to guess the size of their portfolio,” Kapil said.
“HDFC Bank Limited is growing its loan against securities portfolio by about 40 per cent year-on-year,” he added.
