ABFRL’s Madura F&L launches 'Buddy' from State Bank of India across its 1200+ stores

Madura Fashion &; Lifestyle (MF&;L), a division of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited, India’s largest pure play fashion apparel company has partnered with India’s largest public sector bank – State Bank of India (SBI) to launch payments through their mobile wallet ‘State Bank Buddy’ across their retail network to c;reate exciting shopping experiences for customers across the country.

‘State Bank Buddy’, launched in August 2015, is a new age mobile wallet that has for the first time integrated physical retail customers across Madura F&;L’s leading brands and retail network in the country. Madura F&;L boasts of a rich portfolio of leading brands, including Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England, Planet Fashion, People, The Collective and Hackett London. ‘State Bank Buddy’ will c;reate a seamless, cashless &; secured payment option with Madura F&;L’s retail customers across its pan India store network.

A unique digital initiative launched by SBI, ‘State Bank Buddy’ is available in 13 languages and enables everyday payments for customers across services like online shopping, bill payment, travel and hotel bookings and more. This new collaboration will result in creating a powerful and dynamic customer base for both the entities. Madura F&;L’s extensive store network spread across 1200+ stores will now tap into SBI’s large network of creating synergies for both the entities.

On this occasion, SBI Chairman, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya congratulated the team for a comprehensive vision on payment and emphasized on the need to focus on the Government’s Digital agenda to c;reate a cashless society. She said “The Bank will ensure that with Buddy and other digital innovations, the Bank would cater to the needs of every single Indian, staying true to the motto of being the ‘Banker to Every Indian’.”

Comments Mr. Ashish Dikshit, Business Head – Madura Fashion &; Lifestyle, Aditya Birla Fashion and Lifestyle, “We are happy to partner with SBI, India’s largest bank on its foray into digital payments with our retail network across the country. MF&;L’s strong brands together with SBI’s payment platform will c;reate a delightful shopping experience for all our customers.”

About Madura Fashion &; Lifestyle
Madura F&;L, a division of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited, is one of India’s fastest growing branded apparel businesses and a premium lifestyle player in the retail sector. The division is a powerhouse of several top fashion brands that personify style, attitude, luxury and comfort; including Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England and People. It also includes India’s largest fully integrated fashion multi-brand outlet chain Planet Fashion; India’s largest premium international brand retailer, The Collective and the British fashion icon Hackett London’s mono brand retail in India. Madura F&;L business boasts of the largest and strongest distribution network spanning 2,000+ exclusive stores across 2.9 mn. sqft of retail space, with a presence in 4,000+ multibrand outlets, and availability in 3,000+ department stores. ABFRL has signed an exclusive deal to bring London-based designer wear brand, Simon Carter into the country. ABFRL has also acquired the online and offline rights for US-based Fast Fashion chain, Forever 21 in India.

About Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (formerly known as Pantaloons Fashion &; Retail Limited)
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (ABFRL) was formed after the consolidation of the branded apparel businesses of Aditya Birla Group comprising Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd’s (ABNL) Madura Fashion division and ABNL’s subsidiaries Pantaloons Fashion &; Retail Limited (PFRL) and Madura Garments Lifestyle Retail Company Limited (MGLRCL) in May 2015. Post the consolidation, PFRL was r;enamed as Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. ABFRL is India’s No 1. Fashion Lifestyle entity, growing at a rate in excess of 20 percent over the last 5 years. ABFRL altogether hosts India’s largest fashion network with over 7,000 points of sale across over 375 cities and towns, which include more than 2,000 exclusive ABFRL brand outlets.

About State Bank of India
State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest public sector bank in India with over 200 years presence in financial services. The bank offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through variety of delivery channels. SBI’s digital footprint includes world class NetBanking services, Mobile banking variants for each customer segment, state-of-the-art
InTouch branches, SBI Exclusif Wealth Management services and digital printing of passbooks through 7,000+ self-service ‘Swayam’ machines.

About State Bank Buddy
State Bank Buddy, SBI’s mobile wallet available in 13 languages, was launched by Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance, Shri Arun Jaitley. Accenture and MasterCard are the partners of SBI in the Buddy proposition. The objective of the wallet is to enable everyday payments for customers and connect wallet to the overall bank ecosystem to drive P2P payments, merchant payments and Government’s Digital and Financial Inclusion agenda.