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Fintech solutions to small business credit woes
ET Spotlight
All the things I could do if I had a little money” goes a line from the song “Money, Money, Money” by the Swedish pop group ABBA in the 1970s, a humongous success in its time. It is a sentiment those running micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would heartily endorse. MSMEs are a vast and diverse category of nearly eight crore units contributing around 35 per cent of GDP, but almost all of them have one feature in common – they find it hard to raise finance. Unable to satisfy the rigorous lending criteria of banks and non banking finance companies (NBFCs), weighed down by buyers’ delay payments and suppliers clamouring for quick settlements, most find themselves struggling for working capital, and can hardly think of capacity expansion, even when their businesses are doing fairly well. The MSME credit gap has been estimated at Rs 16 lakh crore ($215 billion).
The Fintech solution to small business credit woes
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Synopsis
The Economic Times Digital Payments Forum presented by Mastercard is conducting an exclusive session for senior managers and decision-makers from the Fintech, Finance, Consultancy, and Banking space.
ET Spotlight
While the benefits for tech-enabled businesses are obvious, small businesses don’t necessarily have the resources to make large investments in technology. In addition, they have been adversely affected by the pandemic and are struggling for survival.
fintech as the emerging solution in the new digital era, The Economic Times Digital Payments Forum presented by Mastercard is conducting an exclusive session for senior managers and decision-makers from the Fintech, Finance, Consultancy, and Banking space.
‘Buy now pay later’ is big draw for India’s Gen Z
Surabhi
Mumbai |
Updated on
Players see multi-fold rise in usage from pre-Covid levels The use of the ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) facility, which allows customers to turn purchases into EMIs, is growing fast across the country as consumers find the instrument not only convenient but also affordable.
Pine Labs, the country’s largest BNPL EMI platform, has seen 60-70 per cent greater demand compared to January 2020. Similarly, ZestMoney has seen demand touching 140 per cent of pre-Covid levels.
While players say BNPL demand has been growing over the last two-three years, the pandemic, which led to job losses and salary cuts for many, has made it more attractive, as it enhances the affordability of a product. It is also more hassle-free than taking a bank EMI or personal loan, as there is no paperwork. Often, zero EMI is offered, usually subsidised by the merchant or retailer.
January 27, 2021
Point-of-Sale (PoS) device manufacturer Pine Labs aims to acquire 1 million small merchants across the country over the next year through its new payments acceptance app called ‘All Tap’. While Pine Labs’ merchants have used the company’s e-PoS or mobile-PoS app to accept digital payments on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and QR-code based payments, the new app will allow them to start accepting card payments.
“We will be the first company where debit and credit card payments can be accepted through any NFC smartphone. Here any Android phone can be used to accept payments from any NFC card whether issued on Visa, Mastercard, RuPay or American Express, in addition to UPI and QR-based payments. Our aim to roll out this product to 1 million merchants in a year and 100,000 in the next month.” Amrish Rau, chief executive officer, Pine Labs.