Paytm Money is currently considering further expansion in the financial sector and planning to secure a larger consumer base by introducing loans against stocks and mutual funds. In September 2017, the fintech major launched a direct mutual fund platform. In February, it registered investments worth Rs 5,000 crore through its platform, making it a raging success. The company came up with direct stock trading for its customers in September.
In June, Paytm Money’s rival Kuvera introduce the service of providing a loan against mutual funds. An interest rate of 10.5 percent is charged, besides a fee of Rs 1,999 for these types of loans. The loan amount is a percentage of the mutual fund investment and varies according to the type of mutual fund held, according to information available on Kuvera’s website.
Paytm is an Indian e-commerce payment system and financial technology company, based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India and founded in 2010. It stepped in the market as a prepaid mobile and DTH recharge platform and later included data card, post-paid mobile and landline bill payments in 2013. By 2014, the company launched Paytm Wallet, which was quickly accepted by Indian Railways and Uber and further proceeded towards e-commerce platforms. In 2016, Paytm offered online ticket booking options.
Paytm has further scaled the finance mountain higher with new, novel concepts like Paytm Gold to offer users the facility of purchasing gold for as little amount as 1 rupee, Paytm Gold Savings Plan and Gold Gifting to simplify long-term savings, Paytm Payments Bank and ‘Inbox’, a messaging platform with in-chat payments among other products, ‘Paytm for Business’ App providing merchants with one interface to track their payments and day-to-day settlements instantly and in 2019 also partnered with Citi Bank to launch their Paytm First credit card.
Varun Sridhar, CEO, Paytm Money, said in an interview “The platform has seen investors shift some of their mutual fund allocations to stock trading. It has also seen an increase in the average SIP amounts this year, particularly from more experienced investors”, Mint reported.
He added, “As a leading direct mutual fund distributor and wealth platform, managing customers’ short-term liquidity needs or unforeseen expenses is our priority. We are thus considering and studying the launch of a simple loan against securities products involving both mutual funds and invested stocks. The key is a few click experiences, lower than unsecured loans pricing and a flexible product”.
