Microfinance is the provision of financial services to solidarity lending groups or low-income clients inclusive of self-employed group and consumers, who lack access to banking the related services. Therefore, it is clear that microfinance companies are those finance companies that offer small-scale financial services in the form of savings and credit services particularly to urban areas, semi-urban areas and rural areas.

These financial services are meant for helping them in undertaking economic activities, supporting self-empowerment, increasing savings, smoothening consumption and mitigating vulnerabilities to income shocks. The microfinance companies play an important role in the development of the country and the names of some of the top microfinance companies in India are given below:

Top seven microfinance companies in India:

• SKS Microfinance Limited

• Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited

• Share Micron Limited

• Asmitha Microfin Limited

• Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project

• Bandhan

• Cashpor Micro Credit

Some of the details regarding these top companies in the micro finance sector in India are given below:

SKS Microfinance Limited:

SKS Microfinance started their journey in the year 1998 as an NGO organization and now the company is a globally recognized institution for creating a credible model of scalable microfinance. They offer loans to women belonging to poor regions of India for enabling them to successfully carry out income generating activities for their livelihood. They are also offering emergency loans and insurance products to their members.

Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited:

Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited is offering credit-plus services and micro-credit services to low-income individuals and households for improving the quality of their life. They offer loan products to the convenience of clients in loan servicing and processing. They disclose all their loan terms to the clients in such a way that they can be rest assured that they are not levied any hidden charges.

Share Micron Limited:

Share Micron Limited is a regulated non-banking financial company offering financial and support services to the people belonging to lower income group, particularly to the urban and poor rural women across India. The women are helped by the company to build productive microenterprises, in such a way that sustainable communities of the society can come up in their life.

Asmitha Microfin Limited:

Asmitha Microfin Limited was established with the objective of offering sustainable credit services to the people in such a way that they can invest wisely in activities that will enable them to make their living without any difficulty. They are also offering workshops and training programmes to their customers in effective managerial activities.

Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project:

Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project is engaged in several activities that would enable the development of rural areas of the country and their activities include micro finance service as well. With a view to ensure overall development of marginal and small farmers and landless laborers, the microfinance programme was established by them in the year 1996. Some of the features of this program are easy repayment installments, easy accessibility, convenient tenure, adequate funds without any formalities and hassles.

Bandhan:

Bandhan holds the pride of being one among the top 50 microfinance companies in the world and a US based magazine has awarded the second position to this company among the microfinance companies in India. This organization is working towards two main objectives namely women empowerment and alleviation of poverty.

Cashpor Micro Credit:

Caspor Micro Credit is a company with people below the poverty line as its intended audience started with the objective of offering microfinance exclusive for people below the poverty line in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Villages are regarded as backbone of India and these microfinance companies strive for the development of the whole country by offering financial support to the entrepreneurs belonging to the villages in India.