GrayQuest: This firm helps convert heavy school fees into EMIs, offers insurance of Rs 20 lakh (Interview)

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School fee payment has become a cause of worry for several parents, especially since the COVID-induced lockdown which has led to a drop in family incomes across the country. Adding to their worry is heavy annual fees charged by schools. However, a fintech firm – GrayQuest – is helping parents convert school fees payment into easy instalments and also offers several complimentary goodies including an insurance cover. GrayQuest enables parents to pay their annual education fees in up to 12 monthly instalments – without incurring any extra cost – instead of paying it to their educational institution in two-three bulk instalments. Moreover, parents and students paying through GrayQuest get access to India’s first student-focused privilege program and complimentary insurance protection for their lifetime education fees.

In an interview with FE Online, Rishab Mehta, CEO and Founder, GrayQuest, talks more about his firm’s offerings. Here are the excerpts:

What are the challenges faced by parents while paying school fees?

The primary challenge that is faced by parents is that generally, schools collect their fees in 2 or 3 part payments. With rising school fees and rising aspirations of parents in their choices of schools, each of these part payments can be a significant amount for a household budget of a parent who is salaried or running a small business. Even if affordability isn’t the issue, keeping such significant amounts idle and liquid can be a hassle.

How is GrayQuest trying to solve this challenge?

We help parents convert their school fee into smaller, much affordable & convenient bite-sized installments at no extra cost. So now instead of having to pay their school of 200,000 in two parts of 100,000 each, parents get to pay it in 10 parts of 20,000 each. All while enjoying amazing rewards such as a complimentary insurance cover worth 20 lakh rupees and free access to the best curricular & extracurricular activities & entertainment.

How many instalments are offered to parents? What is the rate of interest charged by the company?

GrayQuest offers anywhere between 6 & 12 monthly to parents and there is no interest charged. Parents only pay the school fee divided by the number of monthly instalments.

What is the value of the insurance that is offered to parents? How much is the premium charged?

The insurance offered to parents is worth 20 lakh rupees. Insurance is one of the key benefits of paying through GrayQuest and parents aren’t charged premium for it.

How many educational institutions in India are you associated with and in which all cities?

We pride ourselves to be associated with 2500 of the top educational institutions in India. 7 out of the top 10 leading brands in school education trust and work exclusively with GrayQuest. We have a similar response from some of the largest and most well-known universities in India. GrayQuest operates digitally and covers all major towns and cities in India. We have 4 regional bases from where our teams operate with the HQ in Mumbai.

How has the current pandemic impacted the school fee payments by parents? Have you seen a rise in parents opting for your service since the lockdown?

We have seen a sharp surge in parents opting for our service during this pandemic but the answer isn’t as straightforward. A key change that has happened is that now parents have really had the time and mind space to carefully explore and consider our offering. While we have seen some parents opt for our facility to gain an additional liquidity boost, most of our new customers are with us because they simply see it as a smarter way of paying fees.

What is the current market size of the school fee financing industry and what is the potential?

GrayQuest is focused on bringing affordability and a delightful fee payment experience to Indian educational institutions across the spectrum of school, higher education and even auxiliary education like online courses and tutorials. India spends more than $100B in education fees domestically and we expect a significant % of that expenditure would happen through financing in the near future.