BackPaytm acquires stake in online loans firm CreditMate
Paytm will use Urja Money's proprietary CreditMate technology to create a loan management system in collaboration with lending partners
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New Delhi: Paytm on Tuesday said it has bought an undisclosed stake in Urja Money Pvt. Ltd, which evaluates creditworthiness of people seeking loans to buy two-wheelers. Paytm will use Urja’s proprietary CreditMate technology to create a loan management system in collaboration with lending partners.
Mumbai-based Urja, incorporated in July 2016, has partnerships with banks and non-banking entities on the supply side and auto-dealers on the demand side. The company raised $500,000 from India Quotient last November.
The latest investment is part of Paytm’s efforts to create consumer credit products, and a likely move towards offering longer tenure loans of large ticket sizes.
Last week, the company joined hands with ICICI Bank Ltd to offer Paytm users interest-free loans of up Rs20,000 for a tenure of up to 45 days. Paytm already offers working capital loans to merchants on its payments platform, a product it introduced last year. All such products are collateral-free and use transaction data on Paytm to assess the creditworthiness of a borrower.
Paytm said the CreditMate technology will help it offer loans to users with limited credit history.
“We believe that CreditMate will be a valuable and long-term partner towards our effort to cater to the unorganized sector to bring inclusive financial services for the masses," chief financial officer Madhur Deora said in a statement. “
About 65% of CreditMate customers are already Paytm users, which speaks to ubiquity of Paytm usage and the unique opportunities we have to expand availability of credit in our country. Over time, we will use CreditMate’s platforms to make credit available both offline and online to our users."
The partnership with Paytm will allow Urja Money to reach a wider set of customers. “This will allow us to expand our operations, distribution, lending partnerships and technology investment to help a wider set of consumers to access and leverage this key life-enhancing asset is," co-founder and CEO Jonathan Bill said.
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