India's fintech market is growing with a number of socioeconomic factors driving innovation; in 2016 over $1.6 billion was invested in India's fintech industry; the CEO and founder of India's Rubique highlights three ways the Indian lending space is being disrupted, including insight on blockchain, marketplace lending and robo advisory services. Source
India's CoinTribe has partnered with SMERA Ratings to incorporate a new rating system for its online business lending services; through the partnership CoinTribe will gain access to SMERA's ratings database for micro, small and medium size businesses; CoinTribe plans to integrate the ratings information with its current credit underwriting system for enhanced analytics on business credit loans. Source
Asia's alternative lending sector has been growing exponentially with a number of industry dynamics influencing the market; Forbes provides an overview of current market developments in China, India and Southeast Asia; growth in the three regions has been significantly influenced by a shift towards digital and a growing middle class increasingly using mobile technology; while marketplace lending has been growing in Asia a permeating challenge across all three regions is the lack of a deeply rooted credit underwriting system with robust data for lenders; China has approximately 2,200 P2P lenders with its P2P lending market valued at an estimated $100 billion however new regulations to handle fraud are likely to shrink the market; India is reporting about 30 P2P lenders in the country; India and Southeast Asia have a number of credible alternative lenders but seem to be growing cautiously in order to avoid the outbreaks of fraud experienced in China; Forbes provides a taxonomy of the various alternative lenders in Asia. Source
The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced the formation of an advisory committee focused on fintech; development of the advisory committee follows the demonetization of the country's currency and lack of regulation instituted by federal government officials in regards to the P2P lending industry and fintech in general; the advisory committee will include representatives from across the entire fintech sector; a key initiative for the committee will be to mobilize household savings from India's consumers through new risk capital and debt investments. Source
Coverager provides insight on the insurtech investment market with a list of 11 insurtech deals announced in January; Practo in India tops the list with a $55 million investment; firm provides a platform for patients to book appointments and also offers a software as a service solution for doctors. Source
Capital Float will partner with Amazon India to provide loans for e-sellers; Capital Float will provide the loans through a credit facility called Pay Later which it is already using with e-commerce clients PayTM, Snapdeal and Shopclues; with the Pay Later solution, Capital Float is well positioned to service a fast growing e-commerce market which is expected to grow revenues from $30 billion in 2016 to $120 billion in 2020. Source
Credy was founded in 2016 and has been gaining some ground in India's P2P lending market; the firm is emerging from the Y Combinator Winter 2017 program and seeks to capitalize on two factors supporting the growth of P2P in India: 1) the use of the Aadhaar ID system and 2) the country's demonetization which eliminated 85% of the country's currency and shifted the economy towards a focus on digital transactions; using digital IDs and a technology platform for underwriting and instant approvals will allow the firm to capitalize on a $50 billion personal lending market; the firm's average loan size varies from $500 to $1,000 with repayment terms up to nine months; led by former Goldman Sachs bankers, the P2P platform has already processed approximately $3 million in loans. Source
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has refuted the fraudulent release or misuse of India's Aadhaar biometrics data after media reports claimed the release of Aadhaar data involving a private bank, its business correspondence agency and an e-sign agency; the UIDAI reports that an attempt was made to access data but internal security systems prevented the data's release; the incident exemplifies the strict security surrounding the use of Aadhaar data in India. Source
India will be utilizing the world's largest biometrics database, Aadhaar, to implement smart health cards for its senior citizens; senior citizens will be receiving an Aadhaar-based smart card; the cards will include information on their health, healthcare and healthcare history; the Aadhaar smart cards will also have payment processing capabilities; the government will test the use of the Aadhaar smart cards in 15 districts during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Source
Business marketplace lender Loan Frame has announced a $2.25 million fundraise that will help the firm expand its business in India as demonetization and the Indian economy present new opportunities for growth; participants in the $2.25 million funding round included the co-founder of Vedanta Capital, the former chairman of Visa International and the co-chief executive of MIO Partners; the platform has stated it is seeking to build the largest small and medium-sized business lending marketplace in the sub-continent; expects to lend $150 million over the next two years with both secured and unsecured loans. Source