by Suman Gupta
Mumbai, January 12, 2023: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, has launched e-Bank Guarantee (e-BG) facility in association with National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL). This facility will bring about a revolutionary change in the banking ecosystem, where bank guarantee is frequently used in large volumes. Currently, the bank issues these guarantees with physical stamping and wet signatures. The introduction of e-BG will replace this function with e-stamping and e-signature.
Bank has taken this initiative to enhance transparency and reduce turnaround time from days to minutes. NeSL’s Digital Document Execution (DDE) platform, which provides e-Stamp and e-Sign functions, will facilitate the e-Bank Guarantee process. Beneficiaries will instantly receive an e-Bank Guarantee on NeSL’s platform without further verification.
On the occasion, Mr. Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, SBI, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to join hands with NeSL to facilitate the e-BG service. SBI has always been the pioneer in providing state-of-the-art digital offerings to its customers to facilitate ease of banking services. Electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG) is an important milestone in this journey that will reduce time in the Bank Guarantee life cycle. The initiative is in tandem with SBI’s commitment to promoting sustainable and user-friendly banking services.”
Mr. Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, MD & CEO of NeSL said, “It is indeed a proud moment for us that the country’s largest bank, SBI, is now live on NeSL’s e-BG platform. This collaboration is part of a larger initiative of SBI to digitize the last mile in the credit process using the Digital Document Execution (DDE) platform. We acknowledge the tireless efforts of the team at SBI working in tandem with us. NeSL’s e-BG removes all the pain points in the existing physical process of issuance of BGs and enhances the customer experience. eBG envisages that all the life cycle events in the BG, like issuance, amendment, invocation, etc. are fully digital, contactless, and paperless, which I believe is the way forward for all products in the banking industry.”
SBI consistently works towards being at the forefront of digital innovations and adaptations. To be the banker to every Indian, SBI leaves no stone unturned for its customer service and convenience.
About State Bank of India:State Bank of India is the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees. SBI has 22,309 branches and 65,796 ATMs / ADWMs in India with 66,757 BC outlets. As on September 30, 2022, the bank has a deposit base of over Rs. 41.90 lakh crore and advances of more than Rs. 30 lakh crore. It is also the largest mortgage lender in the country which has so far fulfilled the home buying dreams of over 30 lakh Indian families. SBI commands a market share of 32.9% and 19.2% in home loans and auto loans respectively. The number of customers using internet banking and mobile banking stand at 107 million and 54 million respectively. With SBI’s digital strategy right on track – the bank witnessed 63% of new savings accounts opened through the integrated digital and lifestyle platform YONO in FY23. SBI observed 23,200 new digital savings bank accounts being opened per day via YONO in the quarter ended September 2022. YONO, which has 5.44 crore registered users, witnessed 72.75 lakh customer visiting YONO Shop & Order in Q2 FY23. SBI also has the highest number of followers on Facebook and Twitter amongst all banks worldwide.
