Axis Bank and Snapdeal have signed an agreement to provide pre-approved, collateral-free loans to sellers on the online marketplace. The loans, ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs1 crore, will be disbursed till 31 October. According to a statement by the bank, the loan offers are especially designed to enable sellers who are mostly SMEs to scale up inventory and meet the huge surge in demand in the run-up to Diwali. The bank has not given details of the interest rates. However, the sellers on Snapdeal would not be required to submit any financial statements or proof of income tax payments for availing these loans. The loans will be offered to select sellers under Snapdeal’s seller financing program – Capital Assist. Sellers will be identified for these offers on the basis of their past performance on the e-commerce platform. Snapdeal has a similar agreement with State Bank of India. Snapdeal said it will disburse loans worth Rs 1,000 crore by March 2016 to SME businesses listed on its platform as part of Capital Assist.
