Peer to Peer Lending or P2P Lending is a disruptive technology led innovation which is expected to add new dimension to the world of financing. It facilitates retail investors to lend to real people to meet their real requirements and at the same time earn interest rates in 12% – 25% range, which is significantly higher compared to other investment options available with comparable risk. Anyone with the experience of approaching a bank to avail personal loan is aware of the difficulties.
The banks typically reject loan applications for various reasons such as low income, no credit history, no savings account with that bank etc. They are also not keen to provide loans of smaller amount, for example below Rs. 50,000. And as for the money lenders, it is well-known the extent they go to harass the borrowers and sky high interest rates they charge which may go up to 100%+ in some cases. Peer to peer lending platforms facilitate lending by individual investors to such borrowers.
While it is still at a nascent stage in India, it is already become quite successful as a leading means of financing in countries such as the US, the UK, Germany, China etc. It has been growing in leaps and bounds around the world thanks to an increase in the internet penetration and tremendous acceptability of e-payments.
i2iFunding helps verified borrowers get unsecured personal loans from investors who are looking for alternative investment opportunities yielding higher returns. As a facilitator it creates win-win situation for both borrowers as well as investors. Major benefits for borrowers are –
- Attractive interest rates – Interest rate depends on the credit risk of the borrower, which is calculated by a proprietary credit risk evaluation model developed by i2i. This takes in consideration more than 50 parameters apart from CIBIL score.
- No prepayment penalty – Unlike most other financial institutions, i2i does not put any penalty on borrowers for early repayment of loans
- Online process for hassle free, transparent and seamless user experience. Borrowers are not required to make any visit to the company office for completing their loan process
- Quick Disbursal – A large list of registered investors help borrowers to get loan funded in quick time after approval.
- Security of personal information – Information shared by the borrowers is kept fully secured
Major benefits for investors are –
- Opportunity to earn high returns on debt backed by legal agreement
- Low risks as we provide principal protection against any default
- Availability of only high quality loans, as each loan requirement of borrower undergoes thorough stringent credit assessment using our proprietary credit scoring model before being available for funding
- Opportunity to build high return diversified portfolio
- Online process for quick, transparent and seamless user experience
On this platform, an investor can fund a loan project in a few simple steps without any hassle. Users are also equipped with the ability to view and download detailed account statements, transaction analysis and many more reports. i2iFunding puts a great effort into maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the details shared with them. Their credit risk score model takes into consideration 50+ parameters to analyse each loan ensuring that each loan has been properly evaluated before being listed.
i2iFunding is cofounded by Vaibhav Pandey and Neha Aggarwal. Vaibhav is an MBA from IIM Ahmadabad and has 10+ years of experience in generating business, driving operational efficiencies, and improving quality. He has successfully designed and led the development of various enterprise level solutions. Neha is an MBA from XIM-Bhubaneswar and graduated from Delhi University with distinction in Finance. She has worked from brand management in FMCG sector to product development in financial sector. She has handled SHG & FDOD instruments worth $25 million in the past.
i2iFunding went live in October 2015 and has completed around 600 registrations in last 4 months. It has more than 100 registered investors with an investment commitment of more than Rs 60 Lakhs. i2i currently provides loans in Delhi NCR and Bangalore. It plans to expand its operations to all major cities very soon. Investors are registered from across India.
i2iFunding believes that though India is just a beginner in P2P Lending, in coming days, this will be one of the main streams of financing for both savings and borrowings and wants to emerge as the leader of this evolving market.
