BANKING WITH A SOUL: K PAUL THOMAS & THE ESAF REVOLUTION

From the quiet lanes of Thrissur to the corridors of global recognition, K. Paul Thomas has walked a path few dare to tread—blending finance with faith, business with benevolence, and vision with values. This is the inspiring story of the man behind ESAF, who ignited India's banking revolution rooted in compassion.

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The Spark That Ignited a Movement

It was the year 1992, ESAF was launched as an NGO, when India was undergoing tectonic shifts in economic policy and was throwing its doors wide open to globalisation. Later, in 1995, when the word “microfinance” was barely understood, the young man from Kerala dared to dream differently in the monetary realm. Thus, the Micro Enterprises Development (MED) Division was born under ESAF. While others dreamt of forging empires rooted in profit margins and bottom lines, K. Paul Thomas focused on people—specifically, women in India’s remotest, most backwards regions, who were ignored by the financial system.

Behind this modest beginning was an extraordinary vision: to lift communities out of poverty, not through charity, but by providing dignified access to finance. “The poor don't need handouts. They need an opportunity to prove themselves,” he said.

Fast forward three decades, ESAF has grown from a grassroots initiative to a full-fledged Small Finance Bank, with over 780 outlets across 24 states and 2 union territories, serving over 9.4 million customers. What began as a small step made progress by leaps and bounds over the years. However, the soul of ESAF as a social bank remains untouched—it’s not just a bank. It’s a movement.

A Pioneer Ahead of His Time

Long before the Kudumbashree movement made waves in Kerala, Paul Thomas had already introduced the idea of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and joint liability models as powerful tools for transformation. Inspired by Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank model in Bangladesh, he adapted it for Indian realities.

His earliest steps involved going door-to-door in remote villages, forming neighbourhood women’s groups, encouraging savings habits, and offering microloans for homebased businesses. It was hard work, but it worked.