MoneyTap Offers Credit Line to Self-Employed Professionals

MoneyTap, India’s first app-based consumer credit line along with its partner RBL Bank, recently announced that the credit line is now available for Self-Employed professionals. The opening of the new segment is in line with the company’s plans to expand into 30 cities in India over the next six months. After lowering the minimum salary eligibility to INR 20,000 per month, this is MoneyTap’s next move to enable easy access to credit.

In a country of 1.2 billion Indians, 26.4 million have credit cards as of August 2016, according to RBI data. The penetration of unsecured personal loans has been extremely poor in India with the organized credit presence at around 1% in the country. On the other hand, according to a survey done by the TransUnion Cibil, a credit information firm, Indian credit card customers have improved their payment behavior with about 78% of them paying off monthly bills completely and about 92% of credit card holders often pay a greater amount than the minimum due. Thus, there is enough scope for a product like MoneyTap to thrive and scale.

Image for representative purpose only. Image credit: Enrepreneur.com

MoneyTap’s app-based credit line provides a customer with a credit limit, anywhere from INR 25,000 to INR 5 lakhs, without any collateral. The value of the credit limit depends on the individual’s profile and the credit policy being used. With a patent-pending chat interface, the free app rapidly evaluates the user’s credit eligibility in just a few minutes and instantly informs them of the decision, along with the amount they are eligible for. Using the MoneyTap app, consumers can choose to borrow as little as INR 3000 or as much as INR 5 lakhs, or up to their upper credit limit. They also get to decide their own EMI plans with payback periods ranging from 2 months to 3 years. Interest is paid only on the amount borrowed and rates can be as low as 1.25% per month. If the user does not borrow any amount, then no interest needs to be paid. The credit limit also gets topped up once EMIs are paid back.

Kunal Varma Co-founder, MoneyTap says “It gives us immense pleasure to be able to spread our services across cities, various earning groups and people of different professions. We are glad that the credit line app has been appreciated and adopted vastly. We aim to expand further by opening MoneyTap for newer segments that are currently underserved and in need of credit. We have a vision of making credit accessible to 1 Million Indians in the next few years. Hence, this expansion is part of that vision. We believe we have a product that works well for the mass market - flexible, affordable credit available in a convenient way.” 

MoneyTap along with RBL Bank is able to provide its customers, instant decisions and instant access to money, 24/7, irrespective of holidays. Moreover, as per RBI guidelines, all financial transactions such as billing, repayment or withdrawals are directly dealt with the bank but through the MoneyTap App using secure APIs, thus ensuring 100% secure transactions. Consumers do not have to hold a bank account or any other account with the partner bank to avail MoneyTap. As an added convenience for shopping needs, a “MoneyTap RBL Credit Card” is also provided to the user. This is a regular MasterCard Credit Card that is accepted at all locations and for all card purchases - offline and online.

Harjeet Toor, Business Head - Microbanking, Credit Cards, Retail & MSME Lending, RBL Bank says “India is a largely informal and an unorganized economy with about 90 per cent of people employed in the informal sector. A majority of these are self-employed. The government's recent initiatives, such as Startup India and Skill India, are aimed at promoting financing, encouraging entrepreneurship and generating employment among the micro, small and medium enterprises. The MoneyTap app will give the self-employed quick and easy access to a credit line they can use both for their personal as well as professional needs.”

The MoneyTap app is available on Android Playstore to all salaried employees and now self- employed. Qualified customers, after completing the KYC (right from the app with no paperwork involved), will pay a one-time Line setup fee of INR 499 + tax in their first month e-settlement. There are no hidden fees or charges and every time the customer chooses to take an EMI, they will be shown the interest & any other applicable charges and the customer will be required to provide explicit consent before borrowing.