BENGALURU: Normally you would have heard youngsters taking loans for their education or to start a business. However, a different trend that is catching up is millennials taking loans for domestic and international travel from new age fintech companies rather than your traditional banks or credit companies.
Travelling is one of the most popular choices of young professionals, either salaried or self-employed.
It has been noted that youngsters are averting eyes towards quick personal loans with lesser interest rates rather than the credit cards, says Aditya Kumar, founder of Qbera, a Bengaluru based fintech company. They recently compiled a stats on spending on travel loan trends in 2017. “Millennials, covering more than 50 percent of the Indian population are constantly looking for online digital platforms to plan their finances for holidays; unlike their predecessors who’ve always relied on savings. It has been a regular practice to narrow down their search to fintech lenders for financing their travel needs,” he adds.
According to his company’sstatistical report, out of 1700 applicants of travel loans till last year November, the age of 728 applicants is below 28 years and 105 female applicants within the age span of 20-28 years (both single and married), he adds.
The base for these applicants is Bangalore, Chennai, NCR, Mumbai and Pune of which Bangalore, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Delhi are in majority. “Fintech startups are starting to dominate the credit lending market with their quick and easy loan approvals, flexible repayment options, tailor-made loan amounts and lesser interest rates luring the vacation lovers towards instant cheaper loans from the costly credit cards,” says Aditya.
He further says that travel loans are raging at a very fast pace amongst young professionals across India, making it easier for them to arrange quick cash for their dream holidays. “Some dream of that luxurious trip to Singapore, Malaysia or Dubai, whereas some would like to explore the diverse cultures within India. Depending upon their monthly income,” adds Aditya. In the past 7 months, for example, 2/3rd of the company’s travel loan applications were for international travel. The average monthly income for domestic loan applicants is Rs. 34,500 and for an international loan, it is Rs. 43,000.