A few months ago, the bank had announced it would offer home loans to women borrowers at rates lower than the card rate. For regular borrowers, the bank offers loans of up to 75,00,000 at 10.15 per cent, while for women borrowers, the rate is 10.1 per cent.

A back-of the-envelope calculation shows on a loan of Rs 75,00,000, for 25 years, women borrowers can save as much as 79,500. In addition to the rules, these loans for women are provided only if the woman is the sole applicant or the first applicant in case of a joint home loan. Also, the asset in the form of car or home must be in the name of the women. In case of a house, the woman concerned has to be the first holder of the property.

 “There are no downsides to these products. This is just segmenting of the market; women customers are another segment for banks. They are just packaging the same product to appeal to that particular segment,” says Rahul Soota, executive director of Mymoneymantra.com.

Another reason why banks offer special credit products to women is delinquencies in this segment are lower and women borrowers carry lower risks, Soota said. Surendran, general manager and head, Federal Bank, agrees. “We are inclined towards giving additional benefits to women because we believe the rate of repayment is better.”