Fintech firm BharatPe on Tuesday announced its foray into the consumer space with the launch of 12% Club app that will allow consumers to invest and earn up to 12 per cent annual interest or borrow at similar rate. BharatPe has partnered with RBI-approved NBFCs to offer this investment-cum-borrowing product for consumers, a statement said.
The company, which provides financial services to merchants, aims to achieve an investment AUM (assets under management) of USD 100 million (about Rs 741.8 crore) and a lending AUM of USD 50 million (about Rs 371 crore) from 12% Club by the end of the current fiscal year, it added.
The new product will be available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
“Consumers on the 12% Club app can invest their savings anytime by choosing to lend money through BharatPe’s partner P2P NBFCs. Additionally, consumers can avail collateral-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh on the 12% Club for a tenure of 3 months, as per their convenience,” the statement said.
Recently, Cred had also launched CRED Mint – in partnership with Liquiloans (RBI-registered P2P NBFC) – to help its members earn interest of up to 9 per cent per annum by investing between Rs 1-10 lakh.
BharatPe said there will be no processing charges or pre-payment charges on the consumer loans, and added that the loan eligibility will be defined based on a number of factors including consumer’s credit score, the shopping history using Payback loyalty system or the payments done via BharatPe QR.
Consumers investing via the app can put in a request to withdraw their investment anytime, partially or completely, without any withdrawal charges. They can start by investing Rs 1,000 and the upper limit for investment by an individual is currently set at Rs 10 lakh. The company said this would be increased to Rs 50 lakh over the next few months.
“As we begin our journey on the consumer side, our focus will be to launch products that are industry shaping, 100 per cent digital and easy to use.
“We believe that 12% Club will strike the right chord with a diverse set of new-age digitally savvy customers- from young salaried individuals, to professionals with disposable incomes, as well as the investors who park their funds in various financial instruments,” BharatPe Chief Executive Officer Suhail Sameer said.
He added that in the pilot phase, the company has seen great traction with USD 5 million of monthly investment run rate and USD 1 million of monthly borrowing run rate.
“We are confident that this product will be well received in the market and will play a key role in driving financial inclusion in the country. This is just the beginning and we will be adding new customer products during the rest of the financial year,” he said.
He noted that BharatPe’s peer-to-peer (P2P) lending product for merchants has gross investments of close to USD 700 million done by over 6.3 lakh merchants.
“Also, we are one of the largest B2B fintech lenders in the country, having disbursed over USD 300 million in business loans to over 2 lakh merchant partners,” he added.
BharatPe – which had recently raised USD 350 million funding at a valuation of USD 2.85 billion – is backed by investors like Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadfast Capital, Coatue Management, Insight Partners and Sequoia Growth.
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