To achieve 400% business growth, Credit Fair will enhance its online presence, develop mobile applications, use data analytics, and automate its loan processing & underwriting processes:
Credit Fair, a Reserve Bank of India registered NBFC, is an Indian consumer-lending fintech start-up. Credit Fair’s target is to create a fair and inclusive financial world for every Indian. Credit Fair, founded in 2018 by Aditya Damani, is backed by K.M. Global Group, which has over 30 years of experience in financial services.
Aditya Damani, Founder & CEO of Credit Fair, has extensive experience in investment research, launching ventures and building teams. Previously he advised hyper growth ventures in UK and India as an investment banker across B2B, data analytics, payments and banking sectors.
Mehul Dani: What are the changes made in the digital strategy for Credit Fair’s customers in the current FY? What are the benefits to the company?
Aditya Damani: Our company has implemented a few key changes in our digital strategy to benefit our customers in the current financial year. One of the significant changes we have made is to create an EMI option at the payment gateway checkout or use a QR code at the point-of-sale journey. We have also focused on getting digitally integrated with our merchant partners to provide a seamless experience for their internal teams and end customers.
The implementation of our digital strategy has benefited our company in several ways. For instance, it has helped us improve our liability side by enabling access to alternative fixed-income assets for the average Indian digitally. Furthermore, it has helped us with merchant onboarding and retention, allowing us to onboard many large merchants, such as Livspace and retain Indira IVF by generating leads for our merchant partners and providing finance for their customers.
Moreover, our sales team works with 5x efficiency compared to other lenders due to our digital onboarding solutions, improving our operational efficiency. Additionally, we have integrated with lenders to make our business model more capital efficient, which has helped us further streamline our operations. Overall, our digital strategy has been instrumental in helping us achieve our goals, and we remain committed to leveraging digital technologies.
Please describe the underlying technologies of your company. Please give estimated usage patterns of your apps and digital platforms. Tell us about how customers use your mobile app.
We rely on various in-house developed technologies, including our loan origination system, loan management system, mobile apps, and business rule engine. We estimate that a significant proportion of our customers use our mobile apps and digital platforms to access our services. All our customers are onboarded digitally through our mobile or web apps.
We have observed that many of our customers prefer to make payments through digital channels rather than traditional methods, and we believe this trend will continue. Additionally, we estimate that a significant percentage of our customers resort to mobile banking to manage their accounts and access our services. Our mobile banking app provides a range of features and functionalities, making it easier for customers to manage their finances on the go.
How much business is garnered online by your company in the current FY? How have you brought distributors, agents, BCs, into the fold of your digital strategy? How have digital-online initiatives contributed to increasing the business of your company?
As of Q3, 2022-23, approximately 60% of our business comes from online merchants such as Upgrad, Scaler, and Toothsi. This represents a significant increase from the previous year and we are delighted with the growth we have achieved. Regarding geographical distribution, the top 3 states in terms of business are Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Delhi NCR. Our embedded lending model is one of the key factors behind our success. Rather than relying on agents or distributors, we offer an innovative solution that allows us to become available at the point of sale for powering transactions, which can help our merchant partners grow their businesses. This approach has proven to be highly effective, and we have received positive feedback from our merchant partners and customers.
Finally, we believe that our digital-online initiatives have played a significant role in increasing our company’s business. By offering a range of digital payment options and mobile apps, we have made it easier for our customers to access our services and have seen a corresponding increase in demand for our products. Additionally, our focus on operational efficiency and integration with lenders, has helped us optimise our business model and increase profitability. Overall, we remain committed to leveraging digital technology to provide our customers with the best possible service and to grow our business in the future.
Please give names of 3 main tech vendors and their services.
Our company relies on various technology vendors to support our digital initiatives. Our main vendors are AWS and fintech infrastructure companies such as Karza Tech and Finbit. These vendors provide various services, including cloud infrastructure, data management, and analytics. We have found these services to be highly effective in supporting our business operations and helping us to achieve our strategic objectives.
Share some details about size of your IT team and training provided to them.
In terms of our IT team, we have a dedicated team of professionals who are responsible for managing our technology infrastructure, including our data centre and networking hardware. Our team is highly skilled and experienced, and we provide ongoing training and support to ensure that they remain up-to-date with the latest developments in their field.
What is the capex and opex for digital initiatives by your company for the current FY?
As for our capex and opex for digital initiatives, we expect to see a growth of around 50% year-on-year going forward. This reflects our commitment to investing in digital technology and infrastructure to support our business operations and help us to achieve our strategic objectives. Overall, we believe that our technology vendors, IT team, and investment in digital initiatives have played a critical role in supporting our growth and success as a company.
How have you gained by deploying analytics to increase business? To what extent technology will be an enabler in the foreseeable future for your company?
We have gained significantly by deploying advanced analytics to increase business. We have implemented data visualisation tools to help us better track our customers and identify early warning signals on the risk front. This has helped us to make more informed decisions about which customers to lend to and how to structure our loans.
As we advance, we plan to continue leveraging technology as an enabler to drive growth and success for our company. We believe technology will be critical in helping us achieve our strategic objectives and remain competitive in the marketplace.
How is technology put to use for CRM? What are you doing to enhance customer experience?
We have also used analytics to enhance our customer experience by providing personalized recommendations and offers based on their individual needs and preferences. Regarding CRM, we have leveraged technology to improve our interactions with customers. We use CRM software to manage our customer data and provide real-time support through multiple phone, email, and chat channels. We have also implemented customer feedback systems to gather input on improving our services and meeting their needs.
We constantly explore new technologies and strategies to enhance our customer experience. For example, we invest in chatbots and other AI-powered tools to provide our customers with faster and more personalized support.
How strong is your presence on social media? What have been the online marketing & promotional efforts undertaken for the current year and planned for the next year?
We also explore leveraging social media to engage customers and build our brand. Regarding our online marketing and promotional efforts, we have primarily focused on improving merchant onboarding and retention. We have implemented strategies to generate leads for our merchant partners and provide financing for their customers.
What are your targets and plans for IT, digital initiatives, for the current FY to increase business, to expand customer base and to increase productivity?
At Credit Fair, we aim to leverage technology and digital initiatives to increase business, expand our customer base, and improve productivity. In the current FY, the company is estimated to grow close to 400% (4 times) in terms of productivity and business expansion. To achieve this growth, we plan to enhance our online presence, develop mobile applications, use data analytics, and automate our loan processing and underwriting processes. These initiatives will enable us to understand our customers’ needs better, create targeted marketing campaigns, and improve efficiency.
The recent digital lending regulations introduced by the RBI will provide a much-needed boost to regulate fintechs like Credit Fair. We are committed to expanding our market share and contributing to the goal of making India the most financially inclusive country in the world.
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