Bandhan Bank on Wednesday announced the consolidation of different microlending operations under a new business vertical, called Emerging Entrepreneurs Business (EEB).

The introduction of this vertical is part of the next five-year strategy of the microfinance-turned-universal bank, which completed the first five years of operations last month.

The EEB vertical of the bank will also focus on small-ticket home loans, micro bazaar loans and micro enterprise loans. Former Airtel and ICICI Bank official Kumar Ashish, who has been appointed executive president and head of EEB, will lead the operations of the vertical.

Ashish spent about two decades in ICICI Bank where his last role was the senior general manager and retail head of North India, leading businesses such as mortgage, MSME loan, auto loan, commercial vehicle loan, personal loan, credit card, wealth management, fee income and branch operations.

Before joining Bandhan Bank, Ashish was group director, Airtel Money, in Africa.

“We are committed to our next five-year strategic vision and are ready for the next phase of growth. In line with the capability requirements, the bank has been focusing on capacity building both through training and up-skilling of existing employees, and through lateral hiring,” said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD and CEO of Bandhan Bank.

“Kumar Ashish brings with him a wealth of experience in banking. We are confident he will drive the newly formed EEB vertical to success,” Ghosh said.

The microbanking assets of Bandhan bank stood at Rs 47,500 crore as on June 30, 2020, recording a growth of 21.2 per cent over previous year.