History of Bajaj Finance Limited
Bajaj Finance Limited (BFL) is the lending arm of Bajaj Finserv. It was established on March 25, 1987, as Bajaj Auto Finance Limited. Although it started by offering two and three-wheeler loans, with time, the company expanded its lending activities in durables, business, property, etc. In 1994, Bajaj Finance released its IPO with 64,88,200 equity shares of ₹10 each at a premium of ₹80 per share.
To reflect their diverse product portfolio, Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd renamed themselves Bajaj Finance Limited in September 2010. Today, Bajaj Finance operates as a deposit-taking Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) that offers a comprehensive range of products and services under various financial categories, such as consumer lending, personal loans, SME lending, etc.
Bajaj Finance Limited has a significant presence in India’s urban and rural regions. The company operates from over 3,733 locations and more than 1,54,650 distribution points in India. Bajaj Finance Limiters caters to over 69 million customers all over the country. They have also expanded their presence online through the Bajaj Finserv App, the website and three proprietary marketplaces - the EMI Store, the Insurance Marketplace, and the Investment Marketplace.
Bajaj Finance holds the highest domestic credit rating of AAA for long-term borrowing, A1+ for short-term borrowing and CRISIL AAA/Stable and (ICRA)AAA for its FD program. In the year 2019, Economic Times for Excellence awarded Bajaj Finance Limited as the Best Company of the Year.
Business Segments of Bajaj Finance Limited
Bajaj Finance primarily focuses on a few broad categories as follows:
- Consumer Finance - Under this category, the company offers various financing options, including durable finance, personal loans, EMI cards, home loans, gold loans, lifestyle finance, etc., to purchase digital and lifestyle products. BFL's Existing Member Identification (EMI) card is used by about 42 million people in India. It allows customers to get quick financing after their initial purchase at over 1,39,350 locations. In FY 2023, these EMI cards made the company finance more than 1 million purchases across various financing options.
- SME Lending- The company offers quick SME loans to satisfy business needs under this category. They offer both unsecured and secured loans for SMEs, professionals and MSMEs.
- Personal Loans - The company offers personal loans for customers. They have a pre-approved loan origination programme known as Personal Loan Cross Sale (PLCS). This programme offers pre-approved personal loans for existing customers. It relies on risk analytics, digital acquisition strategy and campaign management. They also offer personal loans for salaried individuals.
- Commercial Lending - In this category, the company helps established businesses meet their short-term borrowing needs. This is offered to auto component manufacturers, financial institutions, the light engineering industry, speciality chemicals, packaging, pharma, and other mid-market companies.
- Loans Against Securities - As the name suggests, in this category, the company provides loans against their securities, like bonds, mutual funds, shares, deposits, insurance policies, etc. The loans are offered for medium or short-term. This financing is available for retail customers, High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) and promoters of a company.
- Rural Lending - This category deals with the financing options that are offered to individuals from rural areas. The company provides gold loans and loans against vehicles. They also offer financial assistance in business, agriculture and legal matters.
- Investments - Under this category, the company provides fixed deposits and mutual funds for investments. They offer retail, systematic and corporate deposit plans, which accept monthly deposits to accumulate into a corpus of funds over a period of time.
- Partnerships and Services - Under this category, the company has adopted a unique approach by merging the stability of traditional insurance practices with the agility and innovation of a collaborative culture. They have developed comprehensive plans to benefit the customers through partnerships with various companies. The company is registered with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) as a corporate agent for the distribution of health, life, and general insurance products in partnership with nine insurance partners.
Bajaj Finance Limited itself is a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv Limited. The company has two wholly-owned subsidiaries, which are:
- Bajaj Housing Finance - This company offers home loans to corporations and individuals to purchase or renovate homes or commercial properties. It caters to over 72.9 million customers in India.
- Bajaj Financial Securities Limited - This company provides capital market solutions. They offer a demat account, trading account, equity trading, derivative trading, mutual funds, IPO financing, loans against securities and much more.
Bajaj Finance Limited also holds a 41.5% stake on a fully diluted basis in Snapwork Technologies Private Limited.
Key Personnel of Bajaj Finance Limited
- Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
Rajeev Jain holds over 28 years of experience in the consumer lending industry. He joined Bajaj Finance Limited about 15 years ago and set an ambitious plan for the growth of the company. Previously, he worked at General Electric (GE), American Express and AIG.
Corporate Actions
In 2016, Bajaj Finance announced a bonus share with September 10, 2016, as the record date.
- The company issued equity shares of the face value of ₹2 each upon sub-division of equity shares of the company of the face value of ₹10 each.
- Also, fully paid-up bonus shares of the face value of ₹2 each were allotted in a 1:1 ratio for every equity share of the face value of ₹2.
Management Outlook of Bajaj Finance Limited
- The company aims to establish itself as a leading entity in the payments and financial services sector in India. With a vision of acquiring a customer base of 100 million, the company strives to achieve a market share of 3% in the payments ecosystem, 3-4% in total credit and 4-5% in retail credit within the Indian market.
- The company's objective is to prioritise profitable growth and rank among the top 20 profit-generating companies in India, and be in the top five financial services companies in the country.
- The company aims to become an omnipresent company in the financial services sector.
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