Indian e-retailer Flipkart expands benefits under seller financing

Flipkart has forged various new partnerships under the Working Capital loans programme to increase the breadth of options and opportunities available to lakhs of these marketplace sellers, through multiple lenders, based on their specific business needs, the company said in a press release.

The Growth Capital programme enables sellers to get secured and unsecured loans at interest as low as 9 per cent. With the help of tech synergies across the ecosystem, sanctions happen instantly and disbursals within 24 hours of the application. It is designed specifically to enable financial inclusion and independence for MSMEs who operate online. Sellers partners have leveraged the programme’s benefits, resulting in an average loan size increase of 18 per cent YoY.

The programme also aims to bridge the gap between financial institutions and the underserved. With technology as an enabler, a new product called ‘Early Settlement’ has been introduced as part of the programme. It will help sellers manage their cash flows and procurement requirements with no financial burden. Seller partners opting in for the product will also benefit from processing fee waivers during this period, the release said.

“E-commerce has played a transformational role for sellers and MSMEs in recent years, especially since the pandemic, by providing new avenues for their growth and expansion. The scope and the benefits of the Growth Capital programme will help them speed up cash flows and manage procurements better. The application process is now faster, and they can choose from a wide set of lenders as per their requirements,” said Ranjith Boyanapalli, senior vice president - marketplace, fintech & payments group, Flipkart.

Flipkart plays a critical role in ensuring that all its sellers, irrespective of their vintage or size of business, have access to affordable credit. The application process has also further been made simpler for them. Flipkart automatically and immediately redirects the interested sellers from its portal to the lender’s portal, enabling faster processing of applications and improving sanction and disbursal timelines.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)