About Jyoti Bikash Bank Limited
Jyoti Bikash Bank Limited is a ‘B’ class development bank engaged in commercial banking activity. It was established in 2009 by a group of employees from the Nepal Electricity Authority, businessmen, professionals and ordinary citizens. Initially, the bank’s focus was promoting the hydropower sector by lending credit facilities to potential hydropower projects. But over the years, the bank has evolved into a trustworthy financial institution. Today, it caters to a large segment of the society.
ApEx Interview with Paras Raj Kandel, Deputy CEO
What makes Jyoti Bikash Bank different?
Our bank has a culture driven by purpose, vision, mission and values that help us to be more progressive than others.
The main impediment to providing financial access to a large section of Nepali society is lack of adequate and credible information. There are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about the providers of the banking services and the service recipients. We believe designing our products/ services and aligning operations and service-delivery by keeping the customers’ needs at the center will go a long way towards building our bank as a credible brand. In this context, we have been actively working to understand our customers’ needs, revising existing products and bringing in new ones. We are also exploring technology to provide a smoother customer experience and streamlining internal operations. By focusing on customer needs, especially in the MSME (Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises) and retail segments, we have been able to create a different and meaningful presence in the Nepali financial market.
We want to bring prosperity to people’s lives through a wide range of highly accessible financial services and the dissemination of related financial information. The bank aims to become an institution that caters to the Nepali citizens and society by delivering modern, informed, and easy financial services. We have an environment of shared values with our customers via easy, faster, and technology-driven banking and financial decision-making information services. This has made us the public’s favorite.
How do you think a development bank like yours differs from a commercial bank?
The differences are based on various parameters. Initially, commercial banks had an urban approach, and development banks were focused in rural areas. But with a few changes in regulations by the central bank, both categories of banks have now expanded their reach and freely compete for customers. So there is not much of a difference between commercial and development banks. Development banks can also issue dollars and credit cards these days. We are among the first few banks to issue dollar cards and our credit card service is soon being launched.
JBBL donating a baby warmer to a health facility as part of its CSR.
With little to differentiate commercial and development banks, are development banks still relevant then?
This is an important question not only for banking the entire financial sector. Overlapping spaces have been created due to both kinds of institutions targeting the same work areas and audiences. Yet, development banks still retain their popularity among the grassroots. Development banks provide easy service for both MSMEs and rural people. Still, this relevance could be increased if the regulators could step in to determine what each category of banks can and cannot do.
What are the steps your bank is taking to improve people’s financial access?
We have professionally competent and dynamic human resources working to engage the society, particularly the grassroots people. Even as a part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), we are partnering with schools, social institutions and business houses. As the information gap is a major issue for people from rural areas, we give them financial literacy. We merged with Jhimruk Bikash Bank Limited (Pyuthan) in the fiscal year 2017/18 and acquired two more regional-level development banks: Raptiveri Bikash Bank Limited (Nepalgunj) and Hamro Bikash Bank Limited (Nuwakot) in the fiscal year 2018/19 and 2019/20 respectively. This has helped us connect with people from rural areas.
We take feedback to improve our customer service and have a dedicated customer relationship management team. The bank is also exploring ways to digitize a wide range of our services, so that we could make a positive impact in the long run.
As of now, we are focused on three major digital processes: physical data transfer to an online system, automation of bank operation and decision making, and customer experience by providing platforms to connect with other stakeholders in the financial ecosystem. All these will help our customers make optimal use of the bank’s products. It will be a new and improved experience for them.
What is the bank doing as a part of its CSR?
CSR is always our top priority. The NRB asks financial institutions to allocate one percent of their profit to the community, but we contribute 1.5 percent. We will increase this rate, as permitted by our profits. Hamro Bikas Bank Limited had a policy of providing three percent of its profit for CSR, and we have taken inspiration from this approach. At that time, the NRB didn't even have a CSR policy. We have a bottom-up approach to CSR. This means a team of respective branches and public representatives together preparing the CSR proposals.
How challenging has the current liquidity crisis been to your bank?
It is challenging because, even amid the liquidity crisis, we have to continue to support our customers, as we believe in shared values. Keeping our assets in good condition is also a challenge. But to overcome the crisis, we keep our engagement with customers strong. If they trust us, nothing can drag us down.
