Jio may venture into mutual funds: Report

Jio could foray into the mutual funds segment according to a report by Mint

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd may make inroads into distributing mutual funds and other financial products in 2020, according to a Mint report. Three industry sources told the publication on condition of anonymity that the company’s payments platform JioMoney may start to sell mutual funds alongside their regular operations as a payments bank.

The company has been working on rolling out financial services for the past few months, a senior executive of a financial services firm aware of Jio’s plans told the website.

A Reliance Jio official who did not want to be named said that the company had been testing the offering among employees and the testing programme is in beta-phase for a few quarters now. The official told the publication that this would allow the company to test its network, infrastructure and plug loopholes before an official launch.

Account aggregators (AA) are licensed to collect and share financial information with third parties after obtaining the users’ consent. The website reported that despite the system being in a nascent stage, the company obtaining an AA license could mean that the company is planning to make a mutual fund push.

A senior executive at a talent acquisition firm told the publication that the company had been recruiting for its mutual fund segment with an emphasis on digital-savvy candidates with sound financial knowledge.