OPPO ventures into fintech, launches app for mutual funds, loans, and insurance
OPPO joins Chinese peers Xiaomi and Realme in its fintech pursuits. Its new app, OPPO Kash, will let users borrow, save, and spend with a few simple clicks on their smartphone.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO is the latest to join India's fintech bandwagon, after peers Xiaomi and Realme (earlier a sub-brand of OPPO).
The company has launched OPPO Kash, a made-for-India financial services platform that offers small-ticket loans, mutual fund investments, screen insurance, and free credit reports to users.
While comparisons between OPPO Kash and Realme PaySa are inevitable, given the resemblance between the two apps, OPPO claims to be the first smartphone brand to offer mutual fund SIPs - a product it has co-created with ICICI Prudential AMC.
"With Freedom SIP, users can commence their mutual fund investments journey with as low as Rs 100 worth of investment and become future-ready," OPPO stated.
Image: Twitter
OPPO Kash is available in beta on Google Play Store. The app will have a full-fledged rollout in six months. It will be pre-installed in all OPPO handsets, in addition to being available across app stores for non-OPPO users.
Zafar Imam, Lead, OPPO Kash, said at the launch,
“All financial needs should be fulfilled when a user has an OPPO phone within the few clicks and with a simple, mobile-first experience. We are the first smartphone brand in India to launch mutual funds, and will continue to innovate across our six product lines. We are offering our services with the best partners in the industry, and look forward to enabling 10 million dreams.”
Besides ICICI Prudential, OPPO's other ecosystem partners include EarlySalary, which distribute personal loans up to Rs 2 lakh and business loans up to Rs 2 crore. It will also help generate instant free credit reports for OPPO Kash users.
For its screen insurance product, OPPO has tied up with ICICI Lombard, which incidentally has partnered with Realme PaySa too.
OPPO Kash app is available in beta on Google Play Store
OPPO plans to have six offerings on the Kash app in the next 18 months – payments, lending, savings, insurance, financial education, and a financial well-being score.
Sumit Walia, VP – Product and Marketing at OPPO shared,
"With OPPO Kash, we will make end-to-end financial solutions available in the palms of our consumers. Our aim is to have 10 million consumers in the next five years on the platform, having used either of our financial services worth Rs 50,000 crore.”
To scale up quickly, OPPO plans to adopt a 'phygital' acquisition model, leveraging the on-ground smartphone distribution networks it has already built in India.
The pilot will run in select stores in select Tier I, II, and II cities for the first six months, after which the company plans a pan-India rollout.
(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)
