Fatakpay empowering masses with its unique offerings

FatakPay is primarily into digital lending and it is empowering the masses to access small credit limits during the month when they run out of cash to meet their day to day expenses. They can avail the loans at any point of time to meet any type of unexpected expenditure.

Abhishek Gandhi, Co- Founder of FatakPay, in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz revealed how the fintech firm provides multiple services such as utility bill payments, UPI-based scan & pay and bank transfers, apart from free insurance and huge rewards & offers programmes to benefit its customers.

How will virtual credit change the way masses in India do daily transactions? Will it also help to safeguard from going to unscrupulous loan apps?

FatakPay's unique offering and especially the target audience makes it different from any other fintech business out there. It empowers masses to access small credit limits during the month when they runout of cash to meet their day to day expenses. While the solution of self-help groups and cooperatives already exists, the problem remains resorting to these at high cost or interest. It is targeted to the real Bharat, where we not only provide a completely digital workflow to access credit but also be able to manage and track their spends through the app.

What led you to choose this particular target market for your financial services, and how do you think it would affect the finances of a person with little income?

It was simple to understand why: This target demographic needs credit the most to pay for everyday costs due to their low earnings and bleakcredit records. Additionally, this market group lacks large reserves, which means that any unexpected expenditure (such as medical, household, educational) puts the consumer under a lot offinancial stress and traps them in debt.

Along with providing virtually cost-free credit options, it attempts to collaborate with this market segment throughout their financial life cycle and give them all the assistance they require to reach financial wellbeing. The monthly revolving credit line for the company assists them insustaining daily liquidity throughout the month and bridging the spacebetween one pay-check and the next. As the consumer progresses in theirfinancial journey, the firm is also able to provide larger EMI-basedloans or savings and investment options.

How important is instant credit facilities in a post-pandemic economicsituation, according to you?

Post Covid, banks and NBFCs cut loan distribution and as a result, NPAs rose. Rising inflation, unemployment and consumers' inability torepay debts forced lenders to reduce new loan disbursements and tighten risk controls. This on the other hand made access to credit for this segment even more difficult, when actually it was required the most.

This increased demand and reduced supply making access to credit more important while underlining the importance of financial discipline in times of crisis, the firm is striving to aggressively address both these issues and be available to the customer in their times of need.

It is safe to assume that, if not during the pandemic, then at the very least after Covid, digital lending will experience a growth.

Other than instant credit, what are the other fintech products offered by FatakPay?

The firm's monthly revolving credit line facilities is only its base product offering. It also provides multiple services such as utilitybill payments, UPI based scan & pay, and bank transfers, apart fromfree insurance, a huge reward and offers program to the benefit ofits customers.

As it deepens its engagement with the customer it willprovide higher ticket size EMI based loans, personal loans, two-wheeler/ affordable housing finance, micro-insurance and micro – investment products to be able to cater to all their financial needs.

How did you believe a B2B2C product such as FatakPay's virtual card will perform better in India?

Covid-19 has opened up new doors of opportunity for a number of different fintechs. For instance, as a result of the widespread adoption of social distance around the world, there has been a significant increase in the utilisation of digital financial servicesand e-commerce. The adoption of digitisation across the country hasbeen greatly accelerated with deeper penetration of digital payments.

A significant number of financial technology companies have shifted into high gear in order to deal with the crisis. These new-agelending platforms help extend credit to borrowers with an easy onboarding process, faster loan disbursals, and a wider customer base than traditional lenders.

Partnerships between traditional and modern lending platforms have helped increase financial inclusion across the country. Recent government initiatives have also helped the sector grow. Digital lending is popular because the internet is affordable. In just a few years, digital lending has advanced significantly with customers now able to obtain loans with a single tap on their smartphones. Increasing industry participation indicates future growth.