Deal4loans has helped over 49 lakh customers get best deals for their loans
For any need that we have, internet has become the first go-to destination. The availability of information at the fingertips is no doubt a boon, but for certain decisions – especially when related to money and finances, the need to speak to someone and get the doubts clarified in person continues to be paramount. A blend of the two is what Deal4loans.com has to offer.
Founded by Rishi Mehra, Amitoj Sethi and Wribhu Tyagi, Deal4loans (D4L) is a startup that helps customers understand the different loan products in the market and the difference between them, and finally help them make the right decision.
Since starting operations in July 2008, D4L has worked with over 49 lakh customers and counting. The D4L website offers information on different loan products and also has a toll free number for customers to call and clear their doubts.
Talking about the opportunity, Rishi says on an average D4L is dispersing about Rs 200 crore worth of loans per month. “Today customers are taking loans as early as 25 years of age – within the first three years of starting on a job -- and they do need guidance as they are not sure about the different products in the market,” he says.
72% of D4L customers are salaried, 28% are self employed and 58% come from top 8 cities of the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. There has also been good traction from customers of Tier 2-3 cities seeking loans, and today about 3-4 lakh customers for the startup are coming from these small cities.
Between the website and the toll free number, D4L does about 1.5 lakh customer activation per month. They have tieups with about 13 banks in the country, which includes PSU as well as private banks. ICICI bank, HDFC, PNB, HDFC Ltd, ING, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak and Federal Bank are some of the names they work with. Between all the banks and their own setup, D4L reaches out to customers at 180 locations in the country.
The ability to compare loan products of so many different banks at a single window is perhaps the most attractive part of D4L for customers. “Banks just have a single person or two to tell customers about only their own loan products. But with us the customers have the option of getting information of products of different banks,” he emphasizes.
D4L consists of 65 members, including the team in their office in Noida and the call centre staff.
Despite the large number of financial companies offering loans, according to NABARD about 6% of the total loan disbursement is still happening through money lenders, therefore the opportunity to reach out to customers is huge, says Rishi.
Most advertising and marketing for the startup has been through online and through radio ads. Rishi says they are considering investing in mass media advertising soon to help reach out to the next set of customers. “We plan to start our brand building exercise and make a cartoon character which can educate customers about financials, loans etc,” he says.
Alongside their website and toll free number, D4Lhas also launched two mobile apps in the market which are giving customers information about credit card loans and home loans for quite some time now. Launched in 2012, their credit card spend app called Deal4loanscard app has about 32,000 downloads across Android and iOS stores. And the home loans and EMI called Deal4loansEMI app has got over 74,000 downloads since its launch in 2010 across both Android and iOS.
While the business continues to move from strength to strength, their biggest challenge has been on the bank side, says Rishi. He aims to be the CRM end of banks and find a way to win the trust of more banks to partner with them. D4L is already profitable and Rishi says they are looking at revenues of Rs 30 crore and profits of Rs 9 crore in the coming two years. “We have to convince customers that reaching out to us is critical and that getting a loan through us means they can get the best deal,” explains Rishi.
Website : Deal4loans
