The collaboration brings together balance-sheet strength, digital infrastructure, distribution capabilities, underwriting expertise and technology platforms to expand formal credit access across underserved segments in India. The initiative is aligned with the Government of India’s financial inclusion agenda and the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
The partnership stems from Yes Bank’s collaboration with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), the largest strategic shareholder in Yes Bank and a key shareholder in Northern Arc Capital. SMBC helped bring together the two complementary platforms, which have strong synergies across origination, distribution, technology and balance-sheet capacity. The companies said this is the first of several potential collaborations aimed at accelerating growth for both institutions.
Yes Bank is India’s sixth-largest private sector bank, with a network of 1,583 branches and BCBOs and more than 1,350 ATMs. The bank offers a wide range of products, services and digital solutions for retail, MSME and corporate clients. It is also among the leaders in digital payments, processing one out of every three digital transactions in India.
Under the partnership, Northern Arc will leverage its network of 368 originator partners to facilitate credit deployment for Yes Bank through its placements business. The arrangement is expected to provide a diversified pipeline of granular credit opportunities sourced from lending ecosystem partners. By combining Northern Arc’s origination and structuring expertise with Yes Bank’s lending capacity, the initiative aims to strengthen the flow of formal credit to underserved segments while supporting scalable and responsible credit expansion.
The alliance also seeks to accelerate retail lending growth through the co-lending model of Northern Arc’s nPOS platform. The model will be supported by data-led underwriting, structured risk-sharing mechanisms and robust portfolio monitoring frameworks. Leveraging Northern Arc’s diversified origination partner ecosystem across underserved markets, the partnership is designed to scale granular lending efficiently while maintaining portfolio quality and transparency.
As part of the agreement, Northern Arc Investment Managers (NAIM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Northern Arc Capital, will offer Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and portfolio management services (PMS) to Yes Bank’s retail, affluent and institutional clients. Altifi, Northern Arc Capital’s online bonds platform, will also be integrated with Yes Bank’s wealth management ecosystem to provide seamless access to fixed-income investment products through a technology-enabled interface.
A key pillar of the partnership is the integration of technology platforms across both organisations. Northern Arc’s proprietary platforms, including nPOS, NIMBUS and NuScore, will be integrated with Yes Bank’s digital lending architecture to enable seamless loan onboarding and credit delivery at scale.
Commenting on the development, Ashish Mehrotra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Northern Arc Capital, said: “India’s next phase of financial inclusion will be driven by institutions that can combine technology, distribution and risk intelligence at scale. This partnership brings together complementary capabilities to build a more efficient and accessible financial ecosystem for underserved borrowers and emerging investors. At Northern Arc, we remain focused on strengthening the ecosystem that connects capital to opportunities across India’s evolving credit markets.”
Dr Rajan Pental, Executive Director at Yes Bank, said: “Yes Bank’s partnership with Northern Arc Capital aligns with our strategy to build technology-enabled credit infrastructure that can serve India’s diverse financial needs at scale and contribute towards the Viksit Bharat vision for 2047. Northern Arc’s origination platforms and underwriting capabilities, combined with our strong balance sheet and digital architecture, create a powerful engine for expanding formal credit across priority segments. On the investment front, this collaboration opens institutional-quality private credit and alternative investment opportunities to a broader client base.”
