Northern Arc Foundation

Bridging the Gap between Possibility and Opportunity.

Institutions that cater to the financial requirements of the underbanked in India face many challenges. These include continuous access to capital and skilled human resources, the two most critical components for a growing sector. While Northern Arc is focussed on providing efficient and reliable access to finance, the Foundation is focussing on creating knowledge and awareness through research and advocacy, and in building capacity through skills training and

knowledge development at the managerial level as well as the field level across India.

Building core knowledge through extensive and in-depth research is an area which the Foundation has been spearheading for years. Coupled with Northern Arc’s vast repository of credit data, in-house proprietary analytics models and regular field visits that provide deep insights on credit quality, this research aims to augment our understanding of customer behaviour.

The Foundation has funded key research initiatives including

  • Household Finance Research Initiative – The project aims at developing a comprehensive analytical framework for understanding customer financial wellbeing.
  • Financial Systems Design Initiative (FSD): The project aims to create a platform for policy advocacy on key issues concerning financial inclusion and related infrastructure.
  • Future of Finance Initiative: In-depth research on various themes including the increased disintermediation in finance, the growth of public infrastructure for finance in India and the enhanced use of consumer data and advances analytics in retail finance.

Retention and skilling of manpower is a challenge for institutions who want to expand their reach beyond Tier I and Tier II geographies. A dearth of adequate financial education and vocational training has created a void in skilled manpower, especially in rural areas. The Northern Arc Foundation is focused on supporting these institutions by building capacity through conducting relevant training programs and workshops for existing and potential employees. With Northern Arc Capital’s reach into 29 states and 580 districts of India, there is an opportunity to make a difference across the country.

Through a mobile optimised, multi-lingual, gamified, online learning platform, the Foundation imparts financial education that covers concepts across origination, credit and risk. The training is designed to help the employees of our 170+ partner institutions, which employ around 1 lakh people, adapt to the latest trends and regulatory requirements.

Unlocking key initiatives

The Foundation has supported various organizations and initiatives from time to time. Here are a few examples:

Matruchaya Sahayata Home Care Nursing School

Panaji, Goa.

The orphanage trains young women from marginalised communities along the west coast of India in home care nursing, thus not only empowering women through skill development but also creating the much-needed home care nursing market to benefit the sick and elderly.

Door Step School

Mumbai
Millions of children in India are denied of access to school because of physical distance or societal discrimination.  Door step school goes in search of such localities and children, literally driving the school on wheels to their doorsteps. The school targets marginalised communities and migrant labour providing pre-primary education and facilitating enrolment of these children in formal schools.

Chief Minister’s Flood relief fund

Kerala
The Foundation has contributed to various such causes where natural calamities have struck including the recent Kerala floods.

Repair and maintenance of schools in Tamil Nadu

Repair and maintenance of three schools that needed additional toilets, water treatment plants, basic safety measures and other amenities. 

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