India’s Financial Chronicle is reporting that few banks and insurance companies have started offering the new reverse mortgage product which was recently updated to provide monthly payments for the remainder of the borrowers life.

It has been over three months since the new product was announced and yet the only companies who have signed up to offer it are the original companies (Central Bank of India and Star Union Dai-chi Life Insurance).

An NHB official told the Chronicle that the market is adopting a ‘wait and watch’ approach and would like to see the response to the first such product that has been put on offer. “Our feedback is that not many new players are coming up with the offering. Most banks and insurers are wanting to see how the Central Bank-Star Union product fares in the market,” the official said.

The official said going forward, more players would like to come up with the product. “The new product is an improvement over the earlier reverse-mortgage scheme through which banks had done business of around Rs 600 crore,” the official added.

NHB’s reverse mortgage plan may get few players