Women Atmanirbhar key to Atmanirbhar Bharat

Established in 2019, Sugmya Finance Private Limited (SFPL) is a tech-enabled, 100 per cent cashless and paperless leading non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India. The company is working towards women empowerment under Digital India Mission. Having grown exponentially over the last three years, Sugmya Finance has delivered a diversified range of end-to-end financial services to men and women from semi-urban, urban and rural locations in India. A one-stop solution for all financial necessities, the company was built with a vision of creating a social impact through a range of tech operations, e-clinics and loan options like MSME loans, micro loans and consumer durable loans. Vikas Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, Sugmya Finance, in an interview with Bizz Buzz, says: "Ultimately, it is women-led development that will pave way for a self-reliant Bharat, as India can't have an Atmanirbhar Bharat without making our women Atmanirbhar"

What are some of the unique requirements of women and rural customers?

At Sugmya, we empower rural women by increasing their financial awareness. A majority of the women approach us with the objective of saving up for their children's education, becoming responsible for their family's financial wellbeing, or building an innate sense of achievement.

One of the first challenges in empowering people is not that of financial service delivery, but navigating a particular mindset. Starting small businesses gives women affirmation and is an acknowledgment of their role within their families. Once the woman starts making meaningful money, the pendulum begins to swing in her favor. Men respect their wives more when they become successful entrepreneurs. In some cases, it's the men in the family who need the women to provide access to loans. Today most people in their families and communities are able to view them as worthy of making financial decisions or as an entrepreneur.

The participation of rural women in the labor force is helping them to become independent at various levels and also leading the way for families to step out of the poverty line. That is why it is imperative that women are promoted and supported with an increased focus on equality through education and productive employment. Not only does it lead to women empowerment, but also influences financial inclusion and drives sustainable economic growth for Bharat. Ultimately, it is women-led development that will pave way for a self-reliant Bharat, as India cannot have an Atmanirbhar Bharat without making our women Atmanirbhar.

How has the business model of Sugmya Finance evolved? And what role does technology play in it?

Established in 2019, we at Sugmya Finance Private Limited (SFPL) are a tech-enabled, 100 per cent cashless and paperless leading non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India and working towards women empowerment under Digital India Mission. Having grown exponentially over the last three years, we have delivered a diversified range of end-to-end financial services to men and women from semi-urban, urban and rural locations in India. A one-stop solution for all financial necessities, our company was built with a vision of creating a social impact through a range of tech operations, e-clinics and loan options like MSME loans, micro loans and consumer durable loans.

We believe that having a technology-led innovative financial ecosystem will go a long way in boosting inclusive growth, reducing income inequality and empowering people, especially women, to be economically able and strong. With the launch of Digital India, a flagship programme of government of India, the goal of making India a digitally empowered society in the changing digital landscape offers a range of benefits for both NBFCs and their network of clients, contributing significantly to the country's financial inclusion objective. Taking ahead the mission of making India a digitally empowered society, Sugmya is at the forefront of digitisation in rural India.

Not only does our staff spread financial literacy, the company has adopted cashless methods for disbursements and customers are educated about the benefits of switching to digital modes of payments at its various branches. As a tech-savvy organization, Sugmya Finance is focused on deploying tech-operations to mitigate the risks involved in dealing with cash. This allows customers to safely make payments through digital channels.

What is the size of your current business and what is your growth expectation in the next couple of years?

Our company offers three major financial services to help customers grow their ventures: MSME loans, micro loans (IGL & BL) and consumer durable loans. So far, we have empowered more than 60,000 households through our network presence of 103 branches in 64 districts across nine states. Sugmya has also launched a network of e-clinics across 20 of our branches in Bihar and Jharkhand in 2022. These e-clinics provide comprehensive health checks, on-call consultations and provision of medicines at subsidized prices at its branches. Sugmya Finance is driven by a passionate, high-caliber team that is dedicated to provide the best outcomes for its customers. The company is swiftly expanding its operations all across India to create a greater social impact.

How has Sugmya Finance penetrated the rural market and women customers?

Women entrepreneurs have now become an important source of economic growth, especially with microfinance evolving primarily with the purpose of promoting self-reliance and self-employment. Underlining the role of microfinance, the loan options provided by the company helps promoting self-employment and enable them make their own financial decisions.

Not only that, we also promote literacy of women as it helps reducing their fears and inhibitions around banking and stimulates interest into becoming active bank customers. Our staff has served close to 60,000 families across nine states and taught numerous women to register their signatures. Learning how to write their name gives a considerable boost to their confidence and self-esteem.

Our institution has touched the lives of as many as 57,883 women across India since its inception. Since most of these borrowers cannot access funds from other financial institutions, taking financial services from Sugmya enhances their chance of income generation. Having supported several rural women to run small businesses, the company has played a part in enhancing their social status and reducing their economic dependency of male family members.

What innovation has Sugmya Finance brought in the segment and what are you currently working on?

Rural people mostly depend on cash transactions and to introduce the concept of digital payments is a very daunting task since the rural economy is mostly informal or unorganized. To meet this need, we have made efforts to digitalise our process, business function and lending cycle. There are many misconceptions about banking and daily wage earners must learn its importance. Many fear that they can be cheated or refrained from withdrawing money. For this, Sugmya Finance is proactively expanding its reach to offer services to the unbanked population with the help of digital tools like totally paperless, eKYC, e-signature, Aadhaar-based verification. Digital financial inclusion will continue to evolve in India and we hope to contribute to the country's growth journey.