The Feminine Rupee

Siboney Sagar: Invests in property and art, owns apartments in Pune and Delhi and is a high-flying legal eagle in Bangalore

Banks confirm the fast growing size of their female clientele. At HDFC Bank, women constitute close to 50 per cent of applicants for car loans. While they don't have exact figures to map the growth of their female clientele in the last five years, the bank confirms a steady growth in their number. Siboney Sagar, vice-president of GE's legal and compliance cell in Bangalore, remarks: "Banks are now assured of women's business and investment as the woman has grown from being the secondary provider to the primary and sometimes the sole earner." Sagar's observation stems from her personal experience, as she has taken loans for her two apartments—one in Pune and the other in Delhi.

Divya Goyal, an entrepreneur who runs VIYA, a lifestyle store in Delhi, in partnership with her brother, agrees with Sagar and adds that gender discrimination in banks is a thing of the past. "They don't even bother about your marital status, all they want to look at is your bank balance."

We decided to do a reality check. A woman correspondent of Outlook went to a GM Motors showroom in Noida and pretended to be interested in buying the Chevrolet Tavera. The salesman couldn't have been more courteous, and didn't bother to ask how she intended to pay. In fact, when he saw her visiting card, he went on to offer her an attractive discount.

Women are moving in the fast lane in leisure as well as in work. Talking to a cross-section of women, we found that few things can beat holiday travel when it comes to indulging themselves. For women like Shweta Kwatra, a young movie marketer with Sahara Motion Pictures, the yearly break is the biggest incentive to work hard, earn lots of money and save for a holiday. Every year, she puts aside Rs 1 lakh for a trip abroad. She has already been to Southeast Asia, Europe, Dubai and Mauritius. "I save up mainly for the flight tickets, otherwise I and my friends just backpack, stay in youth hostels, travel by Eurorail," says Kwatra. On the other hand, Kuriakos of Clea PR loves to travel in style. Her favourite destinations are New York and London, where she also splurges on good hotels and gourmet meals. Kuriakos is now busy planning a year-end vacation in Sri Lanka.

Not surprisingly, there has been a sharp increase in the number of women leisure travellers. Notes H. Ashok Kumar, manager with Travelexpress (the travel agency of American Express) in Hyderabad, who recently organised a trip to East Africa for some eight women who were all bank executives here: "Women holidaymakers demand value for money, and don't compromise on standards when it comes to their travel arrangements. "

Obviously, investments are important to sustain such a lifestyle. Putting money in the share market, investing it in mutual funds or buying art—the power pack knows what suits them best. Goyal, for instance, has been investing in stocks for the last three years. Sagar and Kwatra feel that mutual funds are a better way to invest as stocks require a lot of time and energy—a reason why a lot of women are investing in equity funds. But some women particularly enjoy the buzz of playing the stockmarket. Geojit Financial Services, a brokering outfit, has opened a 'women only' trading branch in Kochi. Every Saturday they have a training session where they teach interested women investors on matters like picking a stock, the risk involved and the recourse to take if you lose money. Says C.J. George, MD of Geojit: "We have many successful women investors and we want to encourage long-term investment in the stockmarket among women." He soon plans to have more such women only branches in Mumbai and Chennai.

There are new schemes every day to attract women spenders. Stanchart's Diva credit card, for example, offers women interesting discounts at beauty salons. The State Bank of India's Entrepreneur Scheme offers loans on easy terms to women wanting to start small-scale businesses. Canara Bank's Can Mahila loan makes it easy for women to get credit for wedding expenses. Banks like ABN AMRO and Citibank have special schemes for women account-holders to cover family emergencies. The future has never looked rosier for the rose-pink rupee.