STARTUP Exclusive: A Bank For Entrepreneurs!

Ankit’s eyes were stuck at the door, one moment he stares at his watch, the other moment the door, and then he received an SMS – Lets meet tomorrow baby! I am so sorry; busy with work. It is the third time their coffee date was canceled. Mudita had a great idea that is now being shaped up as a start-up firm, but the hassle and the procedure involved get the start-up running was a big nightmare. Ankit was left wondering if there is a one-stop-destination that could provide all “services” needed for any startup to set up. And the founding team members could concentrate on their goal, and they take the headache of execution of the formalities.

Ankit’s wish was just granted when RBL Bank [formerly known as Ratnakar Bank] launched an exclusive branch for startups on April 19, 2016, at Koramangala Bengaluru.

In one of its kind branch, with 10-12 tech enthusiasts, the branch will specifically take care of startups banking services like remittances and cash management and foreign exchange services. The Bank would also help startups in completing of legal and tax formalities, registration with the help of its affiliates.

Narayan Ramachandran, Chairman, RBL Bank says - At RBL, we stand at the intersection of entrepreneurs, ideas, and technology and banking services. We provide a full range of banking services to fast-growing start-ups in the language they speak — seamless technologies, eases, and speed. As an established bank in a renewed start-up avatar, we can empathize with the journey of our start-up clients and have organized the bank’s technical capabilities and speed of response to match their requirements.

To keep up with the pace of technology and innovations, the bank has identified young and tech enthusiast with domain expertise and keen on customer engagement to understand and provide what startups demand. Rajeev Ahuja the Head of Strategy of RBL Bank says – the branch is not merely a branch where entrepreneurs will walk up and ask for a current account or a remittance, but the branch is open to having conversations about API (Application Program Interface) banking, large volume electronic payments (IMPS/NEFT/RTGS) and receivables, prepaid cards based solutions, escrow services, Universal Payment Interface, Aadhaar-Enabled Payment System and Direct Money Transfer.

Speaking to Rakesh Ranjan the Co-Founder and CFO of TradeLab he says – Registration, Tax & Legal matters are a big headache for any 1st Gen Entrepreneurs, the move of the RBL Bank to set-up a dedicated branch for Start-up is highly appreciated by Start-up group. It will not only help with Banking services but also starting the business from scratch with the help of its value added services by connecting with partners to rely upon."

Another tech enthusiast who is devoting his time to start his entrepreneur journey said – I hope the RBL Bank extend these services to another city, as Bengaluru is surely the hub of start-ups but other cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, and Mumbai are also big contributors to the start-up space.

RBL with its vision and mission is helping India to innovate! To their noble gesture and great values, we wish them Best Of Luck!

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