30 Under 30: Mayank Kachhwaha - Serving loans @ express speed

Image: Amit verma

Mayank Kachhwaha plays the guitar and the keyboard and can turn the occasional DJ too

Mayank Kachhwaha | 29
Co-founder, IndiaLends
Category: Ecommerce

People who apply online for loans on Monday mornings are more likely to have higher credit risk since those with full-time jobs have little time to apply on the first working day of the week. Likewise, people who apply for loans past midnight on Fridays most often do it under the influence of alcohol. These are some of the deductions made by IndiaLends, a credit underwriting and analytics platform.

The Delhi-based online platform is the brainchild of Mayank Kachhwaha, an IIT-Madras graduate, who along with Gaurav Chopra, a London Business School alumnus, started the company in March 2015.

IndiaLends is one of India’s first marketplaces that connects customers looking for low-rate loans with institutional lenders looking for higher risk-adjusted returns. Besides being a first mover, the firm took lending to a new level by going beyond mere Cibil scores and bank statements, which can often be inadequate. IndiaLends analyses customers’ behaviour by scrutinising spending and payment patterns to measure their trustworthiness, based on which it refers customers to lenders, or vice versa. Currently, the startup has tie-ups with 10 banks and NBFCs that pay a commission for its services.

Customer behaviour can be an information minefield, says Kachhwaha. But banks rely heavily on Cibil scores for loan-related decisions and approve only a fraction of all applications. “We analyse not just bank statements [of customers] but also transaction activities and come out with personalised EMIs. Utility bills and phone bills can be used to build credit-risk models,” says Kachhwaha.

IndiaLends disburses loans in just two days, compared with 10-14 days at banks. So far, IndiaLends has served over 3,000 borrowers and raised $1 million from various investors.

“[IndiaLends’s] founders have the energy and experience. They are level-headed, young and willing to start slow. This business can have high margins and be highly profitable,” says Deepak Shahdadpuri, founder and managing director, DSG Consumer Partners, which has invested in the company.