[YS Exclusive] As the COO of Mswipe’s Mcapital, Tanya Chadha aims to touch a loan book of Rs 100 Cr by March 2022

Last week, Mswipe announced Tanya Chadha as the Chief Operating Officer of its lending business - Mcapital. An MBA in marketing and finance, Tanya has over 16 years of experience in lending across different verticals like credit, sales, alliances, and product development.

Tanya will oversee building a loan book of Rs 100 crore by March 2022 by Mcapital. 

As one of the largest POS acquirer with 6.75 lakh POS and 11 lakh QR merchants, Mswipe will target the highly underserved SME segment with access to formal credit through Mcapital. 

Joining the leadership team, Tanya, who was formerly Vice President – Lending Product and Business Processes at Mcapital, will now focus on accelerating efforts towards technology innovation, and drive new product strategy and growth for the company. 

Tanya also has rich experience in both secured and unsecured lending across functions like credit, product management, alliances and sales. In her previous company RattanIndia Finance, she led Consumer Finance including personal loans, small business loans and two-wheeler loans. Tanya has also worked with leading NBFCs including HDFC Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Prime, and Capital First.

In an exclusive conversation with YourStory, Tanya spoke of the plans the team has for Mcapital:

Edited excerpts from the interaction 

YourStory (YS): What are your plans with Mswipe and what can we expect? 

Tanya Chadha (TC): We are aiming at providing a comprehensive solution that will include payment services and credit line, to MSMEs and the retail sector. Mcapital will capitalise on the existing merchant base of over 6.5 lakh and 11 lakh on POS and QR respectively. We will bridge the credit gap that this sector is facing today with the use of technology, flexible repayment schemes and minimal documentation. 

YS: Tell us about joining Mswipe and tell us why you chose Mswipe?

TC: Mswipe is a big name in POS solutions for all types of payment acceptance across various business categories. It is the largest POS acquirer and end-to-end digital enabler of MSMEs in the country that has been spearheading the transformation of POS terminals for a decade now. Its extensive reach and product innovation is the best in the industry. By collaborating with Mswipe to start and scale up its lending business, Mcapital, and by introducing various solutions for credit-starved MSMEs and the retail segment, was an opportunity that I seized.

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YS: Tell us your background and what got you to choose finance as a field? 

TC: I come from an army background, I am an army officer’s daughter. I have grown up across the length and breadth of the country. There was a change of city, school, and friends every two years and this became a constant part of my life. This exposure shaped me up in a manner that as a person, I cannot see myself being part of an industry that is static / does not provide opportunities to do different things under one umbrella or the same thing differently. Hence, I chose retail finance as a field because of its fast-paced and dynamic nature. 

YS: What is your learning of the lending markets and how has it evolved and changed in India?

TC: I started my career when the lending process was quite cumbersome. From collecting documents, third party checks to disbursement, everything was physical and time-consuming. TATs were in the range of 10 to 15 days. However, today, with digitisation everything has moved online. 

The entire industry has evolved such that people can apply for loans from the comfort of their living rooms. With the availability of alternate data, the requirement of documents has gone down drastically. Facilities like E-KYC, video KYC, the information provided by credit bureaus, Geo-tagging, E-sign, e NACH/ MANDATE etc. has changed the entire dynamics of lending. Sourcing and delivery cost has come down. Customer experience has improved drastically.

YS: What are the challenges that COVID-19 threw up, and what were the positives for the lending segment? 

TC: COVID-19 impacted the repayment capacity of borrowers as many lost jobs or ran out of businesses. This impacted lending as lenders were and are worried about their money in the market. However, the regulator gave a breather in the form of the moratorium to both the borrower and the lender, enabling them to sail through the pandemic.

It also stressed the importance of having digital touch points for customers in the lending business. Whether it is to lend or to collect. Organisations who were not inclined to reach out to their customers digitally finally geared up to mobilise this development. 

YS: What advice do you give young women who want to take finance as a career option?

TC: The biggest advice that I would like to give to every young woman is that they should work to become independent, and most importantly, make their own money. As far as finance as a career option is concerned, it is a very vast field and has many options, choose the one that excites you and matches your skill sets. 

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