Safe Practices while Applying for Digital Loan
3 min read 03 Mar 2023, 01:22 PM ISTBefore entering any financial relationship with any Digital Lending entity, read the below pointers to assist and safeguard yourself from mala fide anti-social individuals
PremiumWinning the ‘Customer Trust’ remains the most important benchmark for any financial services brand towards safeguarding the financial investments and savings, ensuring seamless financial transactions, and imparting financial advisory to its customers.
“Though digital channels and platforms have ushered in the convenience of opting financial products and services on a real-time basis; it concurrently requires customers to adopt a prudent behavior when initiating any financial transactions or engagements with the financial entity over varied digital financial platforms", opines Abhay Bhutada, MD, Poonawalla Fincorp.
Let’s take an example of ‘Digital Lending’. Before entering any financial relationship with any Digital Lending entity, read the below pointers to assist and safeguard yourself from mala fide anti-social individuals.
1) Background of the Digital Lender: Be wise and check the credentials and profile of the Digital Lender before dealing with them. Check whether the Digital Lender has a functional website, the details of the Digital Lender and its leadership team is provided on the lender’s website.
2) Accreditation & Registration: Always check if the Digital Lender is registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Non-registration of the Digital Lender is a sign of danger and one should refrain from doing any transactions with such a lender. Similarly, for paying EMIs online, whether the payment gateway is accredited by a Secured Payment Gateway service provider.
3) Customer Redressal Mechanism and Policy: Redressal Mechanism in the form of a dedicated Grievance Redressal mechanism always empowers customers to reach out to relevant authorities of the Digital Lender to escalate grievances. Find out if the lender has shared the contact details of its Grievance officers.
4) Customer Service Tools: Always read the comments and ratings of the mobile app of the Digital Lender. A lot of red flags can be picked up just by surfing the comments of the past user experience. Also, check on the website of the Digital Lender whether there is an official dedicated WhatsApp number for customer support. Similarly, customer care numbers should be lucidly mentioned and functional.
5) Promotions & Discounts: Don’t fall for any scamster induced promotional messages with attractive features for interest free loans. Always cross-check with the Digital Lenders on official channels of communication to authenticate the promotions.
6) Product Features: Ensure that you can check and read all the Terms and Conditions before opting the product. There should be no laxity at the customers end to avoid reading any fine prints of the product features to avoid any setbacks on hidden charges, if any.
“Poonawalla Fincorp Limited firmly upholds the belief in having complete transparency in its dealings and value the trust customer bestows upon it. An NBFC registered with the RBI, Poonawalla Fincorp Limited focuses on consumer and MSME financing. The digital-first approach and the state-of-the-art technology infrastructure enables Poonawalla Fincorp to offer diversified product suite to meet the financing needs of customers and MSMEs. The free service of the Loan EMI calculator and checking of CIBIL credit score, highlights the customer centric driven solutions being offered by Poonawalla Fincorp offers. With no fore-closure charges on some of its consumer lending products, zero hidden charges and a complete 100% digital loan cycle, Poonawalla Fincorp strives to be the preferred digital lending partners for aspiring individuals and MSMEs to make their dreams a reality," concludes Mr. Bhutada
Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. This information does not constitute a financial advice.
