Kotak Mahindra Bank cuts SME loan time by 60% using AI tools

KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK has reduced the time taken to process fresh SME loans by 60% through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)-based digital underwriting tools, a senior bank official said.

- NARAYANAN V

The faster turnaround has prompted the country’s fourth-largest private lender to target doubling its SME loan book every three years.

“I thought we will double (the SME portfolio) every three-and-a-half years. At the current pace, we'll be doing it in three years,’ Shekhar Bhandari, President — SME Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank, told FE.

The bank’s aggregate SME advances — covering Business Banking Assets, Agriculture Finance and Corporate SME — grew 16% year-on-year to ~1.09 lakh crore as of September 2025.