How Bandhan Bank became India's first microfinance-to-universal bank in 14 years

Today, Bandhan operates 6,350+ banking outlets across India. The scale is significant, but the real metric Ghosh has always tracked is access: the woman who got her first business loan, the family entering formal finance for the first time, the borrower who could walk away from informal lenders.

The broader lesson isn't about Bandhan alone. For decades, Indian banking has been organised around deposits, CASA ratios, and balance-sheet metrics. The institution's trajectory suggests that the next growth frontier may lie in lending to underserved segments—not because they are fashionable, but because millions still lack basic financial access.