CHENNAI/MUMBAI: Banks are strengthening branch-level gold loan capabilities by adding appraisers, investing in testing equipment and digitising processing as demand surges and lenders challenge NBFCs that dominate the market.NBFCs built scale through fast 30-minute disbursals backed by in-house jewellers and X-ray fluorescence testing. Now, banks are copying this model by expanding branch-level appraisal teams and digitising processing to cut turnaround time. Union Bank of India, whose gold loan portfolio is growing about 30% annually, deploys dedicated jewellers at branches handling more than a dozen proposals a day. These appraisers use weighing equipment, touchstones and acid testing kits to assess jewellery. Branches with lower volumes share appraisers across locations. The bank said customers at its 1,671 gold loan points typically receive loans within 30 minutes.
Indian Bank has identified 725 branches as Gold Shoppe branches with dedicated staff and enhanced customer service facilities. The bank has added 982 empanelled appraisers in the past six months, taking the total to 3,538.For banks, gold loans, the fastest-growing segment, have expanded 105% year-on-year in May to about Rs 5.2 lakh crore according to RBI data. However, banks report lower growth of around 30% because they classify gold loans across agriculture, personal and MSME loan categories. Credit bureau CRIF estimates the gold loan market at Rs 18.6 lakh crore at end-March 2026, up 50.4%, with NBFCs still dominant despite banks gaining share.An Indian Bank official said the lender has reduced approval time to around 15 minutes through system-driven due diligence, automated validations, digital appraisal, technology-enabled credit processing, automated loan disbursement and automated settlement of appraiser fees.The bank has also developed a mobile application for empanelled appraisers that captures appraisal details and ornament particulars digitally and integrates them with the loan processing system. Digital documentation through NESL e-sign platform has further reduced manual intervention and shortened processing time.Indian Overseas Bank has expanded its panel to 2,910 empanelled gold appraisers and introduced digital valuation controls, digital communication of loan documents and workflow-based monitoring. The system tracks every stage of processing, identifies pending actions and generates management reports for monitoring. “We have expanded the panel of qualified gold appraisers, and upgraded gold loan processing platform. In normal cases, where all documents are in order, the bank completes the gold loan process within approximately 15 minutes, enabling customers to receive timely financial assistance,” IOB MD and CEO Ajay Kumar Srivastava said.Federal Bank, which has a gold loan portfolio of about Rs 40,000 crore, has built in-house appraisal capability across its network. “We are the largest bank in gold loans and we have achieved this by building the appraisal capability,” said KVS Manian, MD and CEO.
