Why should Women Avail Business Loans for Funding their Businesses?

The MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) 2018 ranks India 52 out of 57 countries based on her progress and achievement in women entrepreneurship.  

Entrepreneurship implies an independent spirit among a majority of women. Even though India achieved a low rank, Indian women have been expressing this independence for the past two or three decades. The numbers of women entrepreneurs have also been growing steadily throughout the country.

Financial institutions are, therefore, coming forward to help women by providing financing products like business loans. These loans are tailor-made for the Indian women and come with additional benefits that traditional business loans don’t provide.

Some of the features of business loans for women include:

• No collateral needed

These loans are unsecured, and hence, borrowers don’t have to provide an asset as collateral for availing them. These business loans are apt for meeting short-term business expenses.  

However, they can also avail secured loans to meet long term financial needs.  

• High financing limit

Women can get up to Rs. 30 Lakh with these loans and can use the amount for any type of business needs.

• Limited documentation required

A business loan for women can be obtained by producing only the basic documents. Some of the papers that financial institutions require against such loans include:

KYC (any one of the following)

• Aadhaar
• PAN
• Passport
• Voter ID
• Driving License
• Photo ID issued by a government employer

Address proof (any one of the following)

• House rent agreement

• Telephone bill

• Electricity bill

• Gas bill

• Water bill

• Post-paid mobile phone bill

• Any KYC document containing the permanent address

Business proof (any one of the following)

• GST registration
• Trade license
• Certificate from Registrar of Companies (ROC)
• Memorandum of Association
• Articles of Association
• Partnership deed
• SEBI registration
• Export-import certificate, etc.

Other documents that women may have to provide include bank account statements, salary slips, etc.

• Easy to fulfil eligibility criteria
  

The eligibility criteria that women have to satisfy are minimal.

They have to:

• Have a business vintage of at least 3 years.
• File income tax returns for at least the previous year.
• Provide business turnovers of the previous year audited by a CA.
• Be between the ages of 22 and 55 years.

Women also need to have a CIBIL score of 750 or more for availing such business loans. As these loans are unsecured, such a credit score vouches for the creditworthiness of a borrower.

• Rapid approval and disbursal

NBFCs can disburse such loans within 24 hours owing to minimal documentation and simplistic eligibility criterions.

• Pre-approved offers

Lending institutions like Bajaj Finserv provide pre-approved offers that make the process of availing finance less complicated and time-consuming. Pre-approved offers not only come with business loans but also with home loans, personal loans, and other financial services and products.

You can have a look at your pre-approved offer by providing few of your necessary details.

Bajaj Finserv also enables borrowers to part-prepay their business loan at no extra charges.  

• Flexi Loan facility

A Flexi Loan facility is a feature offered by Bajaj Finserv. Here, women only have to pay interest on the amount withdrawn per day and not on the entire amount.

Furthermore, they can opt to pay only the interest as EMIs and repay the principal at the loan tenure’s end. They can withdraw as many times and as much as they want without any additional charges. Flexi Loan facility helps borrowers reduce their EMIs by up to 45%.

These are some of the features of business loans for women that make them one of the most viable financing options.