10 Small Finance Banks in Action Businesses get a reason to cheer now as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted license to 10 small banks across India.

Businesses get a reason to cheer now as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted license to 10 small banks across India. Entrepreneur features the firms that got RBI's nod to serve business owners.

1. Au Financiers (India) Limited

Head/Founder: Sanjay Agarwal
Established: 1996
Place: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Target customers: Salaried, self employed professionals and small businessmen
Branches: 42
Features: Provides loans for entrepreneurs that start from Rs 50,000 with fast processing time

2. Capital Local Area Bank Limited

Head/Founder: Sarvjit Samra
Established: 2000
Place: Jalandhar, Punjab
Target customers: Small borrowers
Branches: 39
Features: Provides all kinds of loans at competitive interest rates

3. Disha Microfin Private Limited

Head/Founder: Sameer Nanavati
Established: 2009
Place: Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Target customers: Micro-financers
Branches: 108
Features: Provides loans range from Rs 10,000 -35, 000 with flexible repayment tenure

4. Equitas Holdings Private Limited

Head/Founder: Vasudevan PN
Established: 2007
Place: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Target customers: Micro-financers
Branches: 72
Features: Borrowers under financial stress due to unexpected circumstances (death in the family, etc) are provided with suitable comfort.

5. ESAF Microfinance and Investments Private Limited

Head/Founder: K Paul Thomas
Established: 1992
Place: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Target customers: Micro-financers
Branches: 225
Features: Provides all kinds of loans at competitive interest rates with a flexible repayment facility.

6. RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limitd

Head/Founder: Rupali Kalita
Established: 2008|
Place: Guwahati, Assam
Target customers: Micro-financers
Branches: 116
Features: Provides loans to enterprises to a maximum limit of Rs 50,000 individually

7. Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited

Head/Founder: Ramesh Ramanathan
Established: 1999
Place: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Target customers: Micro-financers
Branches: 229
Features: Provides loan to enterprises starting from Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 50,00,000 with flexible repayment option of 12 to 48 months

8. Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited

Head/ Founder: R Baskar Babu
Established: 2008
Place: Navi Mumbai
Target customers: Micro-financers and small business loan takers
Branches: 164
Features: Provides micro finance loans to enterprises that start from Rs 7,000 to Rs 50,000. The limit for individual loans for business activity starts from Rs 35,000 to Rs 100,000.

9. Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited

Head/Founder: Govind Singh
Established: 2009
Place: Varanasi, Gujarat
Target customers: Micro-financers
Branches: 286
Features: Provides loan ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 3, 00,000 for micro enterprises

10. Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited

Head/ Founder: Samit Ghosh
Established: 2008
Place: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Target customers: Micro-financers and small business owners
Branches: 464
Features: Provides help for self-employed women for financing business. The loan ranges from Rs 6,000 to Rs 50,000.

(This article first appeared in the Indian edition of Entrepreneur magazine (October, 2015 Issue).