Paytm invests in lending startup CreditMate

Paytm on Tuesday said it has invested in Mumbai-based lending startup CreditMate.

In a release issued to DH, the company stated that  CreditMate was founded in 2016 by Jonathan Bill, Ashish Doshi and Aditya Singh.

The company focuses on enabling its dealer partners to seamlessly assess, approve, process and distribute two wheeler loans to customers with no formal credit history.

The fintech major, however, did not disclose the investment amount. The fintech major stated that as a part of the deal, Paytm will also leverage CreditMate's proprietary credit and asset valuation technology and loan management system.

Paytm Senior Vice President and CFO Madhur Deora said in a statement that top 1% of the consumers in our  country have access to a wide variety of credit-related products, whereas the  remaining have limited or no access.

"Paytm intends to change the course of the Indian financial ecosystem by enabling hundreds of   millions of deserving  consumers to avail long-term credit based on a proprietary loan management system that will cover small scale entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals," he said.

Deora said Paytm believes that CreditMate will be a valuable and long-term partner towards our effort to cater to the unorganized sector to bring inclusive financial services for the masses.  

"About 65% of Creditmate customers are already Paytm users, which speaks to ubiquity of Paytm usage and the unique opportunities we have to expand availability of credit in our country. Over time, we will use Creditmate's platforms to make credit available both offline and online to our users," he said.

CreditMate CEO and Co-Founder Jonathan Bill said he is  delighted
to welcome Paytm as an investor given the strong synergies in our vision.

"This will allow us to expand our operations, distribution, lending partnerships  and technology investment to help a wider set of consumers to access and  leverage this key life-enhancing asset is. Achieving this is both economically  and emotionally rewarding for us," said Bill.

CreditMate assesses the customer and asset (two-wheeler) using proprietary credit and valuation engines. It works with licenced lending partners for whom it provides a credit recommendation and online access to a complete digital borrower and asset profile to enable fast and secured lending.

Paytm recently introduced  an interest-free short-term credit. Paytm Postpaid offers millions of its users an instant credit based on their transaction history
on the platform.

Customers can get credit limit ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs  10,000, which can be extended to Rs 20,000 based on their usage.  Paytm Postpaid offers up to 45 days of interest-free credit to customers who want  instant cash for everyday use-cases ranging from movies, utility bill payments, school fees, flight bookings and e-commerce transactions.