Shriram Finance, Paytm come together to augment digital financial services

One97 Communications Ltd, owners of the brand Paytm, on Friday said it has partnered with retail non-banking finance company Shriram Finance Ltd to offer financial services to its users, including loan products.

Through this joint venture, Shriram Finance products would be made available on the digital platform to further expand Paytm's business to credit services as well, and drive financial inclusion.

With its technology-led lending, Paytm has strengthened the credit ecosystem by partnering with marquee financial institutions to digitally distribute loans. "India is witnessing high growth in retail credit demand.

It is only likely to increase with greater participation from rural and semi-urban India. A lot of this demand will come from a digitally literate, young generation brought up in the mobile telephone proliferation era and those having comfort in making all their transactions through handheld devices," said Shriram Finance Ltd executive vice chairman Umesh Revankar.

Merchants on the Paytm network would get a chance to avail loans from Shriram Finance and then it would be extended to consumer loans. "Our commitment to expanding credit distribution gets a further boost with our new strategic partner Shriram Finance. We are happy that together we will be able to create credit offerings to serve small merchant partners and entrepreneurs of India," Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said.

With Assets under management of Rs 1.85 lakh crore, an employee base of 64,052 and 2,922 branches in operation, Shriram Finance is one of the largest retail non-banking finance companies in the country.

"We are happy to onboard Shriram Finance as our latest marquee partner, as we continue to drive the growth momentum in the credit distribution business while remaining focused on digital lending compliance and quality of loans," Paytm President and COO Bhavesh Gupta said. "With Shriram Finance's strong presence, especially in southern India, we aim to boost access to credit by empowering users across the country with simplified loan distribution," Gupta added.