BNPL is also known as Point of Sale Loans and over the years has become immensely popular thanks to the growing consumerist attitude among young millennials. These young millennials are often cash-strapped and don’t have the credit cards to indulge in shopping escapade and meet urgent purchasing needs.

Commenting on the latest offering, Anuj Kacker, Co-Founder, MoneyTap said “Our journey with Credit line has amplified our core consumer lending capabilities which we are now able to extend seamlessly in the form of Buy Now Pay Later solutions. The focus is both on customer affordability and becoming a sales driver for our business partner merchants. We look to be equally focused on merchant-specific EMI distribution solutions which are available on mobile phones. This is a step forward to deliver a great customer experience in our approach of building India’s most diversified digital buy now pay later platform. Over the next 6 months, MoneyTap aims to provide 0% and low-cost EMIs across predominant growing customer needs in sectors across 10000 merchants in consumer goods, education, and healthcare.”

With this new offering, MoneyTap will be competing with several established players including financial behemoth Bajaj Finserv. The new product launch has also meant that the Fintech major will join the club of coveted fintech lenders like Affirm, Klarna and AfterPay.

MoneyTap hit the headlines last year after having raised whopping INR 500 Cr from ATG, RTP Global and Sequoia India. The company essentially provides personal credit up to INR 5 Lakh through its app-based credit line. It competes with well-funded players like Kreditbee, Lazypay, Loantap and Early salary.

The company has also said that it plans to roll out a couple of more new products in the coming months including ‘EMI card for convenient usage of credit’ line and ‘EMI Pay Later Card.’

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LoanTap offers wide-range of personal loans catering to lifestyle needs and demands of its consumers. From home & two wheeler loans to wedding and holiday/vacation loans. It also offers other unique credit products like advanced salary loans, rental deposit loans, EMI free loans and credit card takeover loans. The company claims that these products have found significant traction among urban consumers and now it is setting eyes on Tier 2 cities. The decision to shift its focus on smaller towns is obviously propelled by its desire to increase loan book and boost its top line growth.

To know more about these and prospective challenges and future plans, Techpluto caught up with Mr. Satyam Kumar, co –founder & CEO of LoanTap – in an exclusive interview.

Q) There is no doubt that India is currently going through a Fintech revolution and this has only led to intense competition in the space. What makes LoanTap stand out in this highly competitive environment?

LoanTap was founded in 2016 with absolute focus on customer needs, and has changed the retail asset distribution model by eliminating the information gap between lender and consumer. LoanTap brings to customer transparency of solutions and helps them choose the best suitable product depending upon the customer’s need.  Most of our customers appreciate our transparent processes and how we have been able to reduce their EMIs up to 40% by offering unique solutions like EMI Free Loan, Personal Overdraft as well as by helping them understand power of building better credit score by consolidating their debt through Credit Card Takeover Loan. A combination of convenience, pocket-friendly loans and low Turn Around Time (TAT) helps us stay differentiated.

Q) LoanTap recently raised $12 Mn in a series B round. Can you please enlighten how does the company plans to use the latest capital infusion?

The funding that we received will be utilized to uplift the retail segment loan and expand our loan-book. We are eyeing 3x growth for current financial year

Q) Interestingly, LoanTap has managed to raise funds when the NBFC industry is facing huge liquidity problem. What is your opinion about the ongoing liquidity crisis that is currently plaguing the industry?

The liquidity crisis is cyclic in nature. We have seen the industry go through the turmoil every 5-6 years and at the end, we recuperate with consolidation. It is important that we stay sharp towards credit profiling, keep NPA under control and at the same time do not loose customer centricity.

Q) Going forward, which key factors will prove to be growth drivers for LoanTap?

There are many factors – internal as well as external that contribute towards driving our growth. Internal factors like – seamless digitalization and customization of loan products to meet customers’ needs and being able to deliver complex product like Personal Loan in seamless manner to internet savvy customers who believe in instant gratification.

External factors are – millennial working population who are driving Indian economy. They comprise more than 40% of Indian population. They are internet savvy and have different lifestyle as compared to their previous generation. Hence, with internet penetration, and changing lifestyle, we see much higher potential in the segment as a whole.

Q) But the challenge of expanding your loan book and still remaining profitable won’t be an easy task. How do you plan to cope and overcome this challenge?

LoanTap has become profitable within first five quarters of its operation. We use technologies at all facets to keep our sourcing, delivering as well as retrieving costs under control.

Q) Where does LoanTap currently stands in terms of profitability and revenue. Can you please share some stats and figures with regard to the same?

LoanTap is one of those FinTech that has become profitable within first five quarter of operations. We have grown 4x since inception and aim to grow 3x this financial year

Q) Your future predictions about LoanTap. Where do you see LoanTap in 2-3 years from now in terms of overall growth?

LoanTap has started venturing into tier 2 cities as we see demand for retail loans coming from there as well. With usage of technology, we are now looking at even faster and more customized loan solutions to the end users. Consumers are adopting faster than what companies can actually innovate and therefore, continually listening to customers and delighting them is what we aim at.

Q) Do you think that LoanTap and all other Fintech companies should be really concerned about all the talks about economic slowdown?

No. The slowdown is temporary and we have just seen how the festive season brought the zing back to the market flavor.

Q) Your thoughts about how should NBFC companies should go about in keeping their NPAs under control?

It is making right credit decision at the first step. A robust credit profiling by not only checking ability to pay but also intention to pay with technology orientation helped us keep our NPAs below 0.5%. So, the FinTech is not about marrying finance to technology but more about deploying technology to financial sector so as to achieve the best of both worlds.

Q) Lastly, any piece of advice that you would like to give to all the budding as well as professional entrepreneurs out there?

One should look at few basic measures like, one must build business for long term need.  No short-term need gaps but a long-term solution for every changing environment and the fast adopting customers. One should be ready for market fluctuations. A clear roadmap of at least 5-7 years is important for entrepreneur to follow. This must be based on value-creation and sustainable growth, – not for immediate gains. Evolving with customers also remains one of the main aims of business. The core or any business is never about what one can do, but how fast we can adopt to what customer wants us to do.

And extremely important, one should aim to become cash-positive or profitable as early as possible.

The post Current Economic Slowdown is temporary, Claims LoanTap’s CEO in Exclusive Interview appeared first on Platform to Showcase Innovative Startups and Tech News.

Mumbai headquartered fintech startup Loantap has secured $6.25 Mn (INR 43 Cr) in fresh fundraising round. The equity funding round was spearheaded by China based VC firm Shunwei Capital, while existing investors India Quotient and Kae Capital also infused funds in the round. Private investment company Tuscan Ventures and Ashish Goenka (owner of Suashish Diamonds) also participated in the round.

The startup aims to use the funds to improve its operational efficiencies that will help in securing fresh funds from lending institutions. These funds will be in-turn disbursed to consumers.

Incorporated in 2016, Loantap is among scores of fintech startups that is targeting the untapped market of potential credit borrowers. However, the Mumbai based firm is trying to distinguish from other competitors by virtue of its innovative product portfolio. It offers interesting products like EMI free loans, credit card takeover, advance salary loans, rental deposits, holiday loans etc. Almost all these products are targeted towards millennial borrowers.

Prior to the latest fundraising, Loantap raised nearly $7 Mn in two separate rounds. It raised $3 million in series A round in August 2016, followed by $4 million in Series B in June 2017.

The startup claims that it has so far disbursed 100 Cr to more than 5,000 customers, with majority of its customers hailing from IT city of Bengaluru.

Fintech sector witnessing lot of Buzz  

This year probably no other sector has garnered interest from investors than Fintech sector. The sector has even managed to defy the ongoing funding drought that has virtually taken toll on the entire startup ecosystem. While investors’ favorable sentiment has been largely driven by untapped credit market, they seem to have been equally compelled by technological growth. Increasing smartphone & internet penetration and emergence of breakthrough technologies like artificial intelligence and sophisticated algorithm have certainly played a huge role in propelling fintech sector’s growth.

According to experts, India’s fintech sector will touch $2.4 Bn by end of next two years. Lendingkart, FlexiLoans, KredX, Capital Float among others are some of the leading players in the industry.

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