Kissht: Enabling instant digital loans to lower income groups

Krishnan Vishwanathan

Cardless credit product is the next wave of lending that is likely to drive adoption and democratisation of fintech in India. Riding high on this, Mumbai-based consumer-focused digital lending platform Kissht is serving low income groups, who either do not have access to credit or who are new to credit. It is providing small-ticket loan (Rs 5,000-Rs 20,000 for a duration of not less than 12 months) disbursal under five minutes.

Kissht has been championing the concept of ‘buy-now-pay-later’ in India since 2016 through its partnership with Caratlane, Flipkart and the TripMoney product for MakeMyTrip. With a strong financial expertise and technology background, co-founders Krishnan Vishwanathan and Ranvir Singh created a solution for the lower-income segment which eliminates the traditional underwriting methods, manual process-heavy methodology made for large ticket-size loans.

When giving a customer a loan, it charges interest rate that covers cost of capital, operating expenses, and risk costs related to any expected losses. The interest rates are 14% -24% per year, with a processing fee of 2%-5%. While underwriting a customer, Kissht relies on five data sources—bureau of the customer, digital footprint, online banking statement for last three months, utility bill payment data and social media profile.

Speaking about the current numbers despite the pandemic, Vishwanathan, co-founder & CEO, said, “This year in March, Kissht disbursed Rs 300 crore worth of loans which was the same as in March last year. We crossed 10 million registered users in the last one year and today we have a registered user base of 16 million and close to 3 million unique borrowers. We aim to reach the 100 million-mark by 2025. Our plan is to create a larger bouquet of loan products, for the underserved customer segment including life and health insurance and two-wheeler loans.”