The microfinance movement began in south Asia when Muhammad Yunus started Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in the 1970’s. He was...
An online lending startup with a unique concept has raised $500,000 in seed funding; CreditMate seeks to offer online loans for bikes and scooters in India; the company has partnered with 25 dealers in Mumbai and the process works similar to an auto loan; borrowers can identify the bike of their choice and work with the dealer for purchase and loan approval. Source
India-based platform, KredX, who focuses on providing short-term working capital to blue-chip companies, has raised a Series A round; Sequoia Capital has joined existing investor Prime Venture Partners in the round; company was founded in 2015 and has facilitated 3,000 transactions ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore (approximately $1,600 to $214,000); company views invoice discounting market opportunity at $100 billion. Source
Faircent has released a market report on P2P lending in India; report says Faircent, India's largest P2P lender, had funding of over Rs 1 crore ($150,000) in August 2016 and has been growing originations at a 15% to 20% monthly rate; report also provides insight on the platform's borrowers; in India, P2P platforms continue to await guidelines from the government which are expected to help improve business efficiency. Source
The Prime Minister of India has announced a ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in India in an effort to fight corruption; P2P platform i2iFunding says the ban will help P2P lenders by reducing cash-based lending in the country and requiring citizens to utilize digital finance solutions; earlier in 2016 the Reserve Bank of India said it would be issuing guidelines for P2P lenders; i2iFunding says the focus on cash-based corruption will now be the central bank's focus; in October, leading P2P lenders formed the Alternate Finance and P2P Lenders Association; founding members Monexo, Lend-Box, LoanMeet, i-lend and Faircent have been the most active. Source
[Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Rajat Gandhi. Rajat is the Founder and CEO of India’s largest P2P platform,...
MPOWER Financing, which provides funding for international students attending US universities, secured $6 million in funding; the round was led by private equity firm, Zephyr Peacock India; the company will use the capital to enhance its technology and expand marketing efforts in emerging markets, especially India; in addition to providing loans the company also helps to build credit history of students and provides them with personal finance education to use in life after college. Source
India company, Bharat Financial Inclusion, has reported financial performance that is demonstrating success with a rural-focused audience, operational cost controls and reduction in cost of funds; this strategy compares with other micro-lenders in India that are seeking rapid loan volume growth in urban centers, but with limited or negative profitability; Bharat announced net income growth of 87.3% to Rs146 crore (US $22 million) in the second quarter ended September 30; the marginal cost for borrowing to fund micro-loans has declined to 9.5% in Q2, and its average interest rate to borrowers stands at 19.75%. Source
Consumer point of sale lender, Finomena, owns India’s most downloaded fintech app and they hope to continue gaining customers in this emerging market; led by Riddhi Mittal, formerly of Microsoft, and Abhishek Garg, a private equity investor, the company has exploded serving millennials who have little or no credit; they focus on extending credit for electronics, laptops, smartphones and furniture, which they view as good and productive categories for loans; the company has also pioneered flexible monthly installments in India and are looking to raise a Series A round soon. Source
The Economist magazine's intelligence unit (EIU) has published a report on regulatory support for financial inclusion in developing countries and it is now gaining traction with press and analysts; the report scores countries on having an inclusiveness strategy and building governmental and private sector expertise, then provides in-depth details in areas including credit markets, non-regulated lenders, payments and insurance; Colombia ties Peru this year for the most progressive country; India has shown the most improvement; Latin America and East/South Asia are leaders regionally while Africa and the Middle East remain behind; the EIU performed the research in conjunction with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and the Multilateral Investment Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank. Source