The two essentials Mumbai-based fintech startup Credilio relies on to enable more personal loans
Fintech startup Credilio is creating a collaborative platform that lets lenders (banks and NBFCs), agents, and customers interact with each other and close deals. The startup has raised an angel round and is now looking for investors for its Series A.
It’s no big secret that financial technology has vastly improved the lives of millions of people — a lot of who did not have access to the most basic financial services before, like a bank account. On the other hand, though, fintech has also inundated consumers with numerous choices. So many, that instead of aiding in the use and purchase of financial products, it leaves people confused and ultimately leads to inaction, pushing people to buy whatever their bank tells them to.
That is not to say that banks give out incorrect advice, or stick customers with products they don’t have any use for — but they don’t offer options, the way marketplaces do.
That was the problem set out to solve in April this year — helping customers buy financial products tailored to their needs, quickly and efficiently, which includes not bombarding them with too much information or making them jump through too many digital-KYC hoops.
Specifically, Credilio solves how credit products, including personal loans and credit cards, are distributed in India.
After the startup’s founders — Aditya Gupta, Anand Kapadia, and Sandeep Ghule — sold their first venture, TranServ, to Indiabulls Consumer Finance, they started looking for more opportunities in the fintech sector. They quickly realised that when it came to the distribution of financial products, more than half the sales came from agents on the ground, and not from online marketplaces.
“A large part of India is still an ‘assisted’ sales market opportunity. Currently, 70 percent of sales of personal financial products are done by third-party sales agents, who are still stuck in the offline mode of distribution,” Aditya tells YourStory.
“Our aim is to include them as part of the digital revolution in the lending business,” he adds.
Essentially, Credilio marries agents who advise buyers and sell financial products to them, with a digital infrastructure backing that helps them quickly sign those buyers up, online. The agents also assist buyers in filling out their applications online, apart from recommending products that best suit their preferences and credit history.
“We want to bring about transparency, speed, and efficiency, in the entire distribution process for personal financial products, including credit cards and loans,” Aditya says.
Credilio currently gives its customers the option to choose from over 40 different credit cards, from India’s eight leading banks, including HDFC Bank, Citibank, Standard Chartered, RBL Bank, among others. Since its launch in April 2021, the startup claims it has seen instant adoption by users in the market, as well as rapid growth in the business.
Aditya says Credilio is on track to cross over a million consumer applications initiated on its platform, assisted by 10,000 advisors, by March 2022.
Bringing all facets of credit together on one platform
How Credilio differs from other marketplace platforms that are available today is it brings together lenders, sales agents and other intermediaries, and customers on a unified platform, and helps all three parties close a deal via assisted buying.
“Our proprietary platform solves for the critical need of digital platforms wherein we don’t replace human assistance, but empower them to efficiently serve the end consumer instead,” Aditya says.
Once the buyer picks the product they want to apply for, Credilio’s agents help them fill out the forms and do online verification or video KYC, either in-person or visiting their residences personally.
Credilio makes its revenue from the banks and NBFCs that issue credit cards and personal loan products, the way most marketplaces do. Financial institutions, whose products Credilio features and sells on its platform, pay the startup a commission, which, after deducting its platform fee, it passes on to sales agents and advisors.
The startup closely competes with aggregators and marketplace platforms such as Paisabazaar, Bankbazaar, , and , among others.
The consumer lending space has hit a fever pitch in the last couple of months with products like P2P lending, buy-now-pay-later, and cards that let consumers split their dues over a few months with zero interest rates.
The disbursement of retail loans is estimated to cross the $700 billion mark by FY 2023, from $330 billion, according to a research report by the Boston Consulting Group, and digital players that enable hassle-free transactions are poised to capture a big piece of the pie.
Edited by Teja Lele