Collateral anchor: Fintech cos steer towards secured lending

This comes after RBI raised risk weights on unsecured personal loans

- AJINKYA KAWALE

Nearly a year after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised risk weights on unsecured personal loans, the country's leading fintech companies are shifting focus, expanding their portfolios to include collateral-backed credit in collaboration with lending partners. The strategy allows these firms to diversify revenue streams and offset risks from rising loan delinquencies.

Leading the charge, Bengaluru-based PhonePe has launched a broad range of secured credit products, including mutual fund loans, gold loans, vehicle loans, loans against property, and education loans, significantly enhancing its credit distribution portfolio since May.

BharatPe introduced two-wheeler loans and loans against mutual funds in August, working with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). Google Pay followed in October, offering gold loans.

"Secured credit is a large market," said Hemant Gala, chief executive officer (CEO) of PhonePe Lending. "While not digitally savvy a few years ago, it's catching up very fast. Everyone wants to try and figure out a model for it."