Axis Bank Collaborates with ITC to Provide Rural Lending Products to Farmers

The collaboration is expected to help Axis Bank reach out to unserved and underserved farmers in rural areas. Axis Bank will provide easy access to a variety of credit facilities for rural lending products such as Farmer Funding Loans and Gold Loans.

The bank will use ITCMAARS (Meta Market for Advanced Agricultural Rural Services), a full-stack Agri-tech application, as part of the collaboration to reach out to farmers and address their financial needs. Axis Bank will also provide a wide range of products and services to farmers through its rural-urban and semi-urban (RUSU) branches located in 656 districts across India.

"This partnership is in alignment with our Bank's Bharat Banking mission of extending our reach in the remote regions and providing them with seamless customer experience," said Munish Sharda, Group Executive & Head - Bharat Banking, Axis Bank. We believe that by leveraging ITCMAARS' strong and long-standing relationships with millions of farmers, we can make a significant contribution to improving the community's financial situation and thus unlocking Bharat's true potential."

"ITC has over the years spearheaded multi-dimensional interventions to transform the lives of farmers, powered by the ITC e-Choupal eco-system that connects with over 4 million farmers," said Rajnikant Rai, Divisional Chief Executive, Agri Business Division, ITC Ltd. “We have now implemented ITCMAARS, a phygital eco-system that provides a range of solutions through hyperlocal and personalized advisory, agri-inputs, financial services, and market linkages, as a step forward in bringing the power of the digital revolution to farmers."

Axis Bank hopes to expand its Bharat Banking strategy by increasing new-to-bank accounts in FY22-23 with this initiative.

As of December 31, 2022, Axis Bank had delivered strong growth across key metrics, with rural advances increasing by 27% year on year, disbursement increasing by 12% year on year, and deposit increasing by 16% year on year.