Guwahati: Now you can buy your dream home early in your career and not worry about EMIs!

State Bank of India (SBI) today launched a home loan product, “SBI FlexiPay”, to facilitate young salaried customers in the ,The Telegraph reported to avail of higher loans compared to their eligibility under normal home loan schemes.

“Under this scheme, salaried customers aged 21 to 45 years, who aspire to buy bigger homes early in their careers, can avail of higher loans and choose to repay the principal amount as per their convenience. The idea is to bridge the gap between affordability and demand for quality residential areas,” SBI chief general manager, Guwahati, P.V.S.L.N. Murty, said at the launch today.

“For example, a person, aspiring to buy a property to be ready in two years’ time, need not pay the principal amount but just the interest during a moratorium (pre-equated monthly instalment) period of five years and thereafter pay moderated equated monthly instalments,” Murty said.

The EMIs will be stepped up in the subsequent years after the moratorium period.

“Likewise, if a borrower wishes to occupy a home right away, he/she need not pay the EMIs during a three-year moratorium period but pay only the interest that is 9.55 per cent,” he added.

The eligibility for a home loan under the product will be based on the EMI-NMI (net monthly income) ratio. The higher the EMI-NMI ratio, the higher will be the loan on offer.

“The FlexiPay scheme is a special product for working professionals who aspire to buy better and spacious homes without stretching their finances. The lower limit of the loan amount under the scheme is Rs 20 lakh while there is no upper limit,” Murty said.

Murty distributed sanction letters of SBI FlexiPay Loan among three beneficiaries during the launch here Monday afternoon,The Telegraph reported.

“The bank will also provide instant approvals to the applicants online,” he added.

SBI has been at the forefront in bringing out innovative and sought-after home loan products such as “Maxgain” and “Her Ghar”. In the Northeast, the bank has over 76,000 home loan accounts at present. “The average rate of loans disbursed per day in the Northeast is about 1,000 while it is between 200 and 300 in the other circles,” he said.

The bank is taking up publicity campaigns such as road shows in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura.

SBI has 702 branches in the Northeast at present. Of late, the bank has laid emphasis on digital banking in the region.

“We plan to launch nine digital branches (named sbiINTOUCH) across the region by March. Three will be in Assam,” Murty said.

The digital branches will provide services such as instant account opening, instant loan approval, availability of remote expert advisers via video links along with interactive walls and table displays.

At present, there are 25 such branches of the SBI across the country.