State Bank of India (SBI) and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) have partnered to cater to the needs of small retailers of HUL by providing them digital payment and financing solutions.
Under the partnership, SBI will digitally empower HUL retailers and distributors through UPI based payment solutions and PoS (point-of-sale) terminals.
The bank will also offer instant paperless overdraft facility of up to Rs 50,000 to retailers for their billings with distributors as well as financing facility to HUL’s distributors. The company will start the pilot in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
To ensure customers get the option of digital payments in smaller towns as well, SBI will install SBI Point of Sale machines at multiple HUL touch points across the country.
Additionally, SBI will provide UPI based solutions to HUL retailers for instant cashless payments to their dealers from HUL’s retailer application “Shikhar”. This mobile application helps retailers order goods directly.
Speaking at a virtual event to announce the tie-up HUL’s Chairman & Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta said that the tie-up is done to push to digital solutions to important constituents of the ecosystem.
He believes general trade is a very important channel as it serves the needs of million of customers by making essential products available.
“This (General trade) channel also plays a significant role for our economy by creating employment opportunities for a wide spectrum of people. It is our endeavour to digitise and modernise this channel; support the retailers with right assortment and enable them to access timely and affordable funding,” Mehta added.
HUL sees this as a transformative partnership as it will help its ecosystem of traders & retailers. "These trader ecosystems have been working in informal environment and they do not have access to credit. There is also a reluctance to adopt digital technology. So, this partnership will try to resolve these constraints," Mehta said.
Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of SBI said this partnership may prompt more FMCG players to adopt digital payment facilities for retailers.
The Bank will also offer HUL employees the option of a corporate salary package via an SBI microsite hosted on HUL’s intranet.
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