SMALL FINANCE BANKS (SFBs)

Major changes from the earlier Guidelines on SFBs are:

• The licensing window will be open on-tap.
  
  
• minimum paid-up voting equity capital / net worth requirement shall be ₹ 200 crore.
  
  
• for Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs), desirous of voluntarily transiting into Small Finance Banks (SFBs) initial requirement of net worth shall be at ₹ 100 crore, which will have to be increased to ₹ 200 crore within five years.
  
  
• SFBs will be given scheduled bank status immediately upon commencement of operations.
  
  
• Payments Banks can apply for conversion into SFB after five years of operations, if they are otherwise eligible as per these guidelines.