On the occasion of International Literacy Day, let’s take a look at few tech platforms that are not only spreading credit literacy but also help consumers improve their financial health.
Did you know that India’s digital loan market, eyed by leading tech giants including Facebook and Xiaomi is pegged to breach the $1 Trillion mark soon? Today as the world continues to evolve at a never before speed, the need for credit and finance is increasing rapidly, both on personal and business levels. With the unlock phase and consumption picking up, there has been a huge uptake in fresh demand for credit. And now with the festive season just around the corner, this demand is expected to grow even further.
In a developing economy like India, banks and fintech on the back of technology have made great strides in the past decade, driving impressive progress in offering access to formal financial services. However, a large number of consumers, many of whom have only a limited experience with formal financial systems have very little exposure to financial education. Take the case of credit – with increased availability of easy credit and absence of adequate credit literacy, there is also the risk of consumer debt and private insolvencies. Therefore advocating and promoting credit literacy for all-inclusive financial freedom is the need of the hour.
While conserving sound credit health is often neglected, it can have a serious impact on one’s overall financial health. Credit score for instance is a significant factor that determines ones’ creditworthiness. However, most consumers won’t be aware that a good credit score not only enables one to receive timely loans but also guarantees other benefits like attractive interest rates, flexible tenure, and other rewarding credit products.
On the occasion of International Literacy Day, let’s take a look at few tech platforms that are not only spreading credit literacy but also help consumers improve their financial health.
OneScore
Launched in July 2019, OneScore aims to transform the consumer credit space helping consumers monitor and improve their credit score via an AI-based score planner. Unlike bureaus and aggregators who only offer credit scores, the platform offers detailed, customised insights into one’s credit score. This helps one to improve their credit score and in the case of New to Credit (NTC) customers it even helps to build it from scratch.
The company aims to build credit consciousness among consumers especially the millennial and tech-savvy loan-takers by enabling them to monitor and improve their credit scores. The platform which provides detailed insights into one’s credit history also offers tailor-made suggestions to improve one’s credit score.
CASHe
CASHe, is a credit-enabled fintech platform that offers consumer lending products like quick personal loans, Buy Now-Pay Later (BNPL) and credit line services to salaried millennials. Launched in 2017, the tech-based platform aims to address the issue of limited credit access with
its alternative credit rating system developed in-house, such that so that people excluded from traditional sources can access credit.
Its proprietary decision model that is powered by a platform called Social Loan Quotient uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to assess a person’s true ability and willingness to repay, leading to a considerable reduction in the cost of credit. The fintech also invests in financial literacy and awareness drives thereby imbibing the habit of self-monitoring one’s credit report from time to time.
The platform has already disbursed loans over Rs 2,800 crores to 3 lakh customers. Starting as a personal loan app CASHe has been downloaded over 14 million times, CASHe is now a full-blown financial services platform that offers its customers credit, insurance and EMI shopping.
LenDen Club
LenDenClub is India’s leading Peer-to-peer lending platform. With a disbursal of 1200 crore worth of loans, it aims to foster financial inclusion and literacy by leveraging technology to support borrowers with hassle-free loans, even in the most remote parts of the country.
The platform connects lenders looking for a healthy and structured return on investment to creditworthy borrowers looking to fulfil their loan requirements. It thus makes affordable credit available to salaried individuals.
LenDenClub provides new-age investment platforms for investors where they can browse thousands of loans to put funds in and earn better returns than fixed deposits. With a 100 per cent funding record from its burrowers, LenDenClub currently has a user base of over 15 lakh and disburses 2.5 lakh loans on an average annually as the platform hosts investors and borrowers from all across India.
Bank Bazaar
Bankbazaar.com is an app-based financial service provider that offers consumers instant credit score information and customised quotes on loan rates and other financial products like mutual funds and insurance. Besides offering credit scores, the platform also educates customers about the importance of having a good credit history. It has been helping customers check, track, and build their credit scores so that they have a healthy financial life
The platform also brings together many products of various financial and insurance firms so that customers can compare and choose the best possible product suitable for them.
Paisa Bazaar
Launched in 2014, PaisaBazaar is an online destination for all kinds of financial products be it loans, insurances, or credit cards. The tech-driven platform enables financial inclusion through its multi-city recruitment drive besides offering access to jargon-free information and advice in
multiple languages, which helps increase financial literacy and enables the right financial decisions.
In 2020, it became the only player in the country to offer consumers their free credit reports in regional languages. Today customers can get their free credit report from Paisabazaar in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. The platform is now pursuing to use regional language to deepen consumer awareness and offer expert advice to consumers in a language of their choice.
PaisaBazaar has seen enormous growth with a loan disbursal rate of over a billion dollars annually. The platform uses data and tech innovations and helps customers choose the most suited financial product. The platform uses algorithm-based tech which provides users access to multiple personal credit offers and lets them compare multiple options.
Source: Business World
