AskmeFin plans to venture into credit rating of small and medium enterprises to enable them get funds at competitive rates. To start with, the company will use algorithms to provide credit scores for the 1.5 lakh SMEs registered with it and also helping them tie-up short-term funds.

A part of the Astro Malaysia-funded AskMe group, AskmeFin has tied up with banks and non-banking finance companies such as Mahindra Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Capital Float, Religare, SMEBank.in and Mandii.com.

The company arranges loans to the 1.5 lakh SMEs that sell goods/services on the group’s online platforms such as AskMe, AskmeBazaar, AskmePay, AskmeFurniture and AskmeGrocery. The funding is based on an SME’s receivables from the sale of goods on the platform.

The ticket size ranges from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 2 crore and the tenure can run from three to six months.

Pawan Lohia, CEO, AskmeFin, said that the company intends moving into all financial services including rating SMEs and insurance. The financing business is fast gaining traction, he said, adding: “We have already arranged loans worth Rs. 30 crore and have set a loan book target of Rs. 1,000 crore by end of this fiscal.”

Since the funding is based on an SME’s online sale receivables, AskmeFin is trying to increase the SMEs selling on its group’s portals. Currently, it has about 1.5 lakh registered sellers on its platforms.

AskmeFin is also working with offline SMEs and helping them sell their products on its platform. About its revenue model, Lohia said AskmeFin gets commission ranging from half per cent to 1.5 per cent from banks and NBFCs on the loan arranged.

Source: Business Line