Facebook Pixel Code

Fintech startup CASHe targets Rs 800 cr loan book by fiscal end, backs Modi government’s Digital India

Backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India, V Raman Kumar of CASHe says the government has taken several initiatives to boost the FinTech ecosystem.

CASHe, V Raman Kumar
CASHe processes over 30,000 loans in a month on an average. The total loan book is around Rs 460 crores

One of India’s leading fintech startup CASHe has launched a unique credit rating system called SLQ (The Social Loan Quotient). Touted as India’s first social behaviour based credit-rating system, SLQ is independent of any bureau reports and generates its own scores based on the customer’s social behaviour data. In an interview to FinancialExpress.com, V Raman Kumar the Chairman and founder of CASHe, says that the digital lending firm processes over 30,000 loans in a month on an average. Backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India, Kumar says the government has taken several initiatives to boost the FinTech ecosystem.

What is CASHe and who are your customers?

CASHe offers instant short-term personal loans through a mobile application to salaried professionals across India, specifically salaried millennials in the age group of 22 – 36 years. For young professionals who need credit, this easy-to-use application is designed to get rid of the tedious paperwork and human interactions. CASHe simplifies the borrowing experience by taking out the complexities involved in the taking of a loan. CASHe makes it simple and quick to request for a loan with minimum documentation and collaterals and without being dependent on high traditional credit scores. Powered by its industry-first proprietary algorithm-driven social behaviour scoring platform, The Social Loan Quotient (SLQ), CASHe has managed to bridge this gap and provide access to fast and easy credit to the near and sub-prime market segment. CASHe provides almost instantaneous loans on-demand without cumbersome collaterals and paper documentation. Its user-friendly digital interface enables faster loan application process and quicker loan disbursals. The average time taken for a loan to be disbursed is about 10 minutes, subject to proper submission of all documents. CASHe offers loans from Rs 10,000 to Rs 2,00,000 payable over 15 – 180 days. With over Rs 450 crore in loan disbursal, 2 million app downloads and over 180,000 customer base, CASHe is the most sought-after lending platform for salaried millennials.

The fintech sector has attracted significant investor attention in recent times. What is the reason for this?

The fintech sector over the past few years has made a significant impact on the financial services sector. Not only has it redefined the development of financial services products, it has also created alternate channels of delivery, and provided the opportunity to significantly expand the reach and scope of financial services. The Indian economy which has traditionally been a cash-driven economy has responded well to the fintech opportunity, primarily triggered by a surge in e-commerce, and smartphone penetration. When it comes to attracting investments, the Indian fintech industry has recorded $1.77 billion in investments between 2014 and 2015 through a total of 158 deals, according to Inc42’s FinTech Market Report. The average deal size was $9.82 million. While these figures highlight the growth of FinTech in India, there are several factors in play that support phenomenal growth in the near future.

High adoption of technology: India has already proved itself as being pro-technology. Its high rate of technology adoption can be seen in the penetration of smartphones.

Internet penetration: Compared to the US, India might have a lower internet penetration at just 35%, but because of the vast population, the reach is significantly higher, towering at almost 500 million individuals with access to the internet.

Government policies: By encouraging digitization, by promoting uniform and widespread identification (Aadhaar Card) and through bank account schemes, the government has taken several initiatives to boost the FinTech ecosystem. In short, FinTech ecosystem has a role to play in the digital economy.

Increasing financial inclusion: Currently, Indian’s financial inclusion penetration is extremely low, with as many as 145 million households not having access to banking services. However, the RBI’s target is for the penetration to reach 90% by 2021. FinTech can play a crucial role in financial inclusion.

Huge working population: India has a population of more than 1.3 billion and a third of this population is urban. The median age in India is around 27 years, which means that most of the population is working and generating income. Working adults typically adopt technology much faster than the retired elderly. These working adults would have a greater enthusiasm to avail the services offered by the FinTech sector. Availing credit will become significantly easier for young adults due to their familiarity with technology and data-rich eco-systems that they frequently engage with.

How many loans are processed in a month? What is the total loan disbursal amount and how much do you plan to achieve by the end of this fiscal?

We process over 30,000 loans in a month on an average. Our total loan book is around Rs 460 crores and we have targeted to achieve Rs 800 crore by the end of this fiscal.

How big is the digital lending market in India? What is the potential for growth?

Currently, the digital lending market in India is pegged at around $75 billion. As per the latest study conducted by BCG, it is poised to hit around $1 trillion in the next five years. The main reasons for this phenomenal growth are attributed to a huge increase in retail loan disbursements, greater access to the internet, increase in digital influence and purchase.

CASHe has recently tied up with BankBazaar. How will you gain from this partnership?

Under the strategic partnership with Bankbazaar.com, CASHe will now offer its short-term personal loans on Bankbazaar’s online financial platform. Under the partnership, users of Bankbazaar.com will now have easy access to instant short-term credit facility from CASHe through its multiple loan options ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 200,000 payable over 15, 30, 90 days and 180 days. BankBazaar.com’s customers will now benefit from CASHe’s best-in-class differentiated product suite in the retail loan segment. This partnership also will help us expand our customer base exponentially as the BankBazaar portal records over 90 million visitors in the last quarter of 2018.

Currently, financial institutions use CIBIL rating system to find out credit score of an individual. What is your model?

Unlike financial institutions who are dependent on credit bureaus to know on an applicant’s credit history, CASHe has introduced its own proprietary alternate credit score system- The Social Loan Quotient (SLQ). SLQ is India’s first social finance behaviour-based credit-rating system on its application to all its customers in India. SLQ is fast, unique and pathbreaking as it leverages big data analytics, AI and predictive tools to help score millions of salaried millennials to become consumers of CASHe across pan-India. CASHe’s approach to calculating a customer’s credit score is more revolutionary as it is linked to a number of data points that include borrowers online and offline data like his mobile and social media footprint, education, remuneration, career and also financial history. The scores are generated in real time and will enable the customer to know, within a few seconds, if he qualifies for a loan with CASHe or not. Subsequently, on completion of the loan application process, every customer will now be displayed his personal SLQ score that provides the user with a reliable tool for accessing his/her creditworthiness with CASHe.

SLQ is developed using proprietary deep learning and artificial intelligence technologies that will analyze a wealth of data to find recurring patterns of credit behaviour that will indicate an individual’s willingness and ability to pay his financial obligations. CASHe, over the past two years, has built a very large data set of customer information based on their digital footprint and mobile data to spur the financial inclusion of many deserving creditworthy Indians who do not have access to financial services. This allows us to build credit scores even for individuals with little or no formal credit information but who may actually be good candidates to obtain credit.

SLQ is very different from traditional credit scoring systems which usually deliver a score based only on the applicant’s historical financial behaviour. SLQ is independent of any bureau reports and generates its own scores based on the customer’s social behaviour data.

Many players in the fintech sector are using latest technologies like AI, IoT. What are CASHe’s plans?

We are currently working on a POC project to use blockchain technology for our customer contracts, money transfer plus create a digital wallet on a high trust and secure infrastructure. We hope to be the first in India in the alternative lending space to implement Distributed Ledger Technology.

Get live Share Market updates, Stock Market Quotes, and the latest India News and business news on Financial Express. Download the Financial Express App for the latest finance news.

First published on: 16-08-2018 at 15:15 IST
Market Data
Market Data
Today’s Most Popular Stories ×