BMB Full Form, Definition, Objectives, Features, Criticism

Full Form of BMB is Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

What is BMB?

BMB stands for Bharatiya Mahila Bank. It was India's first all-women's bank, established on November 19, 2013. It was inaugurated by the former Prime Minister of India on the anniversary of first lady Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. BMB generally focuses on the financial needs of women and promotes women's empowerment.

Objectives of BMB

The bank's slogan was "Empowering Women, Empowering India."

Its main objective was to financially support women and promote women's empowerment through financial inclusion. It also focuses on providing a comfortable and supportive environment for women to access financial services and grow their businesses. The bank aimed to create a level playing field for women entrepreneurs by providing them with financial and technical assistance to start and run their businesses successfully.

Key Features

The primary focus of the bank was women's empowerment. This bank is driven by women and lending exclusively to women. In fact, it is the third country in the world to have a bank solely dedicated to women.

Apart from this, there are several key features of BMB.

• Rate of Interest:  BMB has quite an attractive rate of interest on its loan policy. Apart from this, it offers customisable loans to meet the customers' requirements.
• Women Empowerment: One of the key features of BMB was that it was completely owned and managed by women. 
• Specialized services: The bank had a unique business model that focused on women as both customers and employees. It provided various financial products and services to women, including savings accounts, current accounts, fixed deposits, loans, and credit cards. The bank also offered specialized services such as SME loans, microfinance, and insurance products designed for women.
• Green Sakhi: The bank also had a unique CSR initiative called "Green Sakhi" aimed at promoting sustainable development and environmental conservation. It provided a platform for women to become entrepreneurs by selling eco-friendly products and services, such as jute bags, organic food, and recycled products.

Criticism

The bank has suffered criticism for adopting a segregationist approach to gender equality. According to some intellectuals, Womens-only banks are a form of discrimination that will promote gender biases. This is just another instance to treat women differently. Women-only organizations stem from biases in the name of preferential treatment.

The bank also faces criticism because of the low capital base, Poor financial performance and deviation from the mainstream banking system. These issues have steadily decreased the popularity of the bank. 

Unification

BMB was integrated with the State Bank of India in 2017, which raised questions about the future of the bank and whether its unique business model would continue. While the State Bank of India continues to run the bank, it has focused on empowering women financially and ensuring their inclusion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Bharatiya Mahila Bank was a significant initiative by the Government of India to empower women by providing them with access to financial services. Its unique business model, which focused on women as both customers and employees, provided a comfortable and supportive environment for women to grow and succeed. Although the bank was merged with the State Bank of India, its legacy of promoting women's financial inclusion continues.

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