While still in college in 2004, Mahesh Shukla, co-founder of PayMe India aspired to make an impact by offering financial services even in India’s remote areas. His idea eventually fructified in 2016, when he co-founded Payme India along with Sandeep Singh. The start-up provides secured and unsecured loans to individuals to meet their emergency and unplanned expenses. Among its offerings are salary loans, instant short-term loans to salaried professionals, and advice on debt consolidation, debt management and credit score improvement.
Three years later, in 2019, the fintech startup managed to bag the NBFC license from the RBI and has also extended its credit services to the informal sector, which is not addressed by organised financial players. Today, the company caters to close to 10,000 customers every month and has partnered with over 100 corporates as their salary partner.
Having made its presence felt in all major cities, the company is now ramping up its geographical outreach via digital platforms and by adding newer products and services.
“We are in the process of designing customised products for corporates and their employees in order to penetrate the untapped market in metros and tier 1 and 2 cities,” he explained.
The founders between them have nearly three decades of experience having working with top financial brands like Barclays and Genpact in the past. Together, they have raised seed capital of $2 million and are currently in talks with investors for additional funding to boost further growth.
Elaborating on the company’s operations, Shukla said it utilises alternative data scoring to take decisions on loan sanctions. “This facility not only provides them with financial support, but also helps them generate and improve their credit scores,” he explained, adding that the company’s motto is to rid individuals and corporates of their cash crunch problems, besides providing them with unplanned or emergency expenses. Access to credit is easy and quick and comes within a day provided relevant and authentic documents are submitted.