MUMBAI, 25 OCTOBER, 2023 (GPN): Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL/Kotak) today announced that it has partnered with National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) to issue its first electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG) on the latter’s platform.  

The tie-up enables the digitisation of Trade, thus helping eliminate paper-based issuance of Bank Guarantees. The digitisation includes issuance, amendment, closure, digital stamping and signing, significantly reducing the Guarantee turnaround time (TAT) to a few hours compared to 2-3 working days for the paper-based process. The e-BG also mitigates the authentication risks.                                   

Paritosh Kashyap, President & Head Wholesale Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “Kotak Mahindra Bank has been at the forefront of providing our customers convenience and ease of banking. The partnership with NeSL in providing e-BG for our trade customers eliminates many issues both the lender and issuer face with endless paperwork, including several verification stages. Our focus on customer-centricity and innovation has led us to an early adoption of digital transformation in our banking services. We are committed to enhancing our customers’ experience across all products and services we offer in the banking industry, with e-BG being one of them.”

Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, MD & CEO, NeSL said, “e-BG brings a paradigm shift in the way we do trade finance and is a milestone in the digitisation of banking services. e-BG substantially reduces the time taken in the issuance and the other life cycle events of a bank guarantee, like an invocation. In an era of instant messaging, it’s appropriate that the e-BG is instantly available on issuance in a secure and digital form to the beneficiaries.”

With the help of NeSL- Digital Documents Execution (DDE) technology, the beneficiary can view digitally issued bank guarantees on the NeSL portal in real-time. e-BG issuance in digital form eliminates the need for a separate authentication from the bank guarantee issuing bank, thereby avoiding the additional efforts/time of the applicant and beneficiary. Further, the central repository of NeSL makes it convenient to retrieve issued bank guarantees as and when required and reduces the scope for misuse.

About Kotak Mahindra Group 

Established in 1985, Kotak Mahindra Group is one of India’s leading financial services conglomerates. In February 2003, Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. (KMFL), the Group’s flagship company, received banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), becoming the first non-banking finance company in India to convert into a bank – Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (KMBL). 

Kotak Mahindra Group (Group) offers a wide range of financial services that encompass every sphere of life. From commercial banking, to stock broking, mutual funds, life and general insurance and investment banking, the Group caters to the diverse financial needs of individuals and the corporate sector. The premise of Kotak Mahindra Group’s business model is concentrated India, diversified financial services. The bold vision that underscores the Group’s growth is an inclusive one, with a host of products and services designed to address the needs of the unbanked and insufficiently banked. 

Kotak Mahindra Group has a global presence through its subsidiaries in UK, USA, Gulf Region, Singapore and Mauritius with offices in London, New York, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Mauritius respectively. As on 30 September 2023, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd has a national footprint of 1,850 branches and 3,170 ATMs, and branches in GIFT City and DIFC (Dubai). 

For more information, please visit the Company’s website at https://www.kotak.com

About National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL)

National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) is India’s first Information Utility registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). The company has been set up by leading banks and public institutions. The primary role of NeSL is to serve as a repository of legal evidence holding the information pertaining to any debt/claim, as submitted by the financial or operational creditor and verified and authenticated by the parties to the debt. As part of its IU services, NeSL also offers paperless Digital Document Execution (DDE) for various products offered by banks and NBFCs. It also offers an Electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG) solution which addresses all the challenges in the existing physical process of issuance of a bank guarantee. 

For more details visit www.nesl.co.in