What could be the equivalent of an SVB in India? Small finance banks (SFBs), for one. SFBs serve risky poor borrowers who don't have much credit history. Like SVB that catered to start-ups and venture capitalists, SFBs have a chunk of their credit locked up in unsecured loans. SFBs also enjoy a net interest margin of close to 7 per cent as opposed to the 2.5–3.5 per cent enjoyed by commercial banks. In fact, public deposits are also shifting to these riskier assets as they offer higher savings and fixed deposit rates. In an economic slowdown, SFBs' customers are usually more impacted than the salaried class. This was evident after Covid-19, when SFBs' gross non-performing assets (NPA) jumped to around 5 per cent. "It could have been better if universal banks held stakes in SFBs and payments banks to make them resilient," says Moses Harding John, President & CEO of IndusInd International Holdings, the promoter company of IndusInd Bank.