120+ branches
across 16 states in India
11 states
covered in the initial PAN-India rollout
~2,000 users
trained and onboarded across geographies
30+ technical and functional resources
deployed jointly across both teams for implementation
Situation Overview
NABARD Financial Services Limited (NABFINS) is a subsidiary of NABARD, registered with the Reserve Bank of India, with equity participation from NABARD, the Government of Karnataka, and leading banks, including Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Dhanalakshmi Bank, and Federal Bank. As a non-deposit-taking NBFC focused on agriculture and microfinance, NABFINS serves underserved communities through two lending models — direct lending by its own employees, and an agency model in which NGOs and business correspondents mediate loan processes closer to the customer.
Testimonial from Bank Leadership
Challenges
NABFINS’ technology environment was fragmented, creating operational and financial risk:
Decoupled systems
Accounting ran on Tally, while operations were managed on a separate, customised third-party solution — leading to redundant data entry, added time, and higher error potential
Field collection delays
POS machines used by agency collectors relied on network connectivity, delaying data uploads by up to 30 days and locking as much as ₹8 million at the agency level.
Limited scalability
The existing operations solution couldn't scale to support more complex processes or analysis
Manual EMI calculations
The bank relied on Microsoft Excel for EMI calculations, which proved inefficient for larger accounts
NABFINS needed an integrated, mobile-capable system that could offer offline functionality for field operations, real-time data access, and long-term scalability — all within a defined budget.
Solution Provided
Following a rigorous RFP process spanning roughly four months, NABFINS selected the TrustBank CBS Retail Microfinance Solution. A key factor in the decision was TFL’s flexibility to customise the platform to NABFINS’ workflows — including a three-day payment buffer for rural collections, allowing the bank to pass on interest benefits to customers.
Deployment approach: Rather than an on-premise setup — which would have required 15–20 dedicated staff and a higher upfront cost — NABFINS opted for a private cloud deployment on a Tier 4 data centre managed by TFL, including built-in disaster recovery.
Implementation was carried out in two phases by a joint team (10 members from NABFIN, and 29+ functional and technical resources from TFL):
- Phase 1: Customised TrustBankCBS Retail Microfinance module (NABFINS CMS), credit bureau interfaces (CIBIL, HiMark, Equifax, Experian), e-KYC integration, and the agency banking and staff field operations module
- Phase 2: NACH and NEFT/RTGS integration with HDFC Bank and Yes Bank for disbursement processing
Modules implemented:
- TrustBankCBS HO Module
- Retail Microfinance Operations Module (SHG lending, JLG lending, institutional lending, personal lending)
- Budgeting module
- Credit Bureau integration (CIBIL, HiMark, Equifax, Experian)
- e-KYC
- Field staff mobile app interface
- Agent banking mobile interface
The system went live in November 2016, with a PAN-India rollout across 11 states. The team also trained and supported nearly 2,000 users across diverse geographies, languages, and skill levels.
One unified platform
Business Impact
- Centralised visibility
NABFINS could track loan applications, collections, and status in real time across all branches nationwide
- Offline-first field operations
Mobile interfaces with offline capability solved the core problem of field data lag and fund lock-up at the agency level
- Business growth
The bank saw a notable increase in both accounts and branches within the first year of going live
- Stronger compliance
The system was later upgraded to support fraud detection and controls, and to enable statutory report filing to the RBI
- Ongoing partnership
NABFINS and TFL continue to collaborate on enhancements to user authentication and risk management.
Conclusion
NABFINS’ transformation illustrates how a flexible, cloud-based core banking and agency banking platform can help a microfinance institution overcome the operational risks of decentralised systems — while scaling to serve underserved communities across India. By partnering with TrustBankCBS, NABFINS moved from fragmented, delay-prone processes to a centralised, real-time system built for both office and field operations.
