India is home to more than 300 million blue-collar workers, most of these workers struggle with the financial crisis due to a lack of financial awareness and limited reach and access to easy financial solutions. While there are various companies providing financial assistance, not all of them serve the financial needs of the entry-level skilled workers or blue-collar workforce. To fill the gap in the community we are listing down five startups that are educating and providing monetary help to the people across India.
Vivifi India Finance: Vivifi India Finance is an RBI-certified non-banking finance company (NBFC) enabling easier and more direct access to credit for the underserved communities in India. It offers sachet-sized loans to customers who have the ability and intent to repay. Based on the loan repayments of these customers, the company then increases their credit limit to help them improve their credit score and eventually get access to larger loans. Vivifi ‘s flagship lending product FlexSalary is India’s first Personal Emergency Line of Credit, the company is now layering payments on the UPI backbone to provide a digital credit card experience for the underserved through FlexPay. The company aims to achieve financial inclusion by making credit available for all deserving Indians without any bias, transcending the limits of location, literacy, monthly income, and credit history.
Upwards: Upwards is a one-stop solution for all credit-wellness needs, particularly for lower-income segments of the society who are unable to avail of credit from formal financing institutions. Upwards is committed to making the process of availing of loans hassle-free through the incorporation of cutting-edge technology. For lower-income communities across the country, the process of availing of loans is lengthy and often in vain. To bridge the credit gap Upwards offers loans up to INR 2.5 lakhs that are sanctioned within 24 hours to salaried individuals across India. With no paperwork involved, fast disbursements, and a focus on long/midterm/large/mid ticket PL products, Upwards offers a personalized and superior customer experience for those falling within the salary bracket of INR 20,000-2.5 lakhs. Customers simply need to register with their KYC and can even upload the necessary documents online, thereby evading the traditionally cumbersome process.
Kosh: Kosh is a digital lending platform that provides access to formal credit to low- and middle-income (LMI) segments in India. It works on a joint liability model that relies on group leaders and members who avail credit through the platform. The company groups three or as many as ten blue-collar workers and gives them a loan. When a user logs into our Android app, they are able to apply for a loan. But before they do that, they need to add some of their colleagues and friends who are also looking for a loan. This way of banding people together allows Kosh to charge a lower rate of interest on the loan. In each group, at least one member has to be credit-worthy in the traditional sense.
Niyo Bharat: Niyo Bharat, a fintech platform that facilitates the opening of zero balance salary accounts for blue-collar workers. Presently, it has tied up with ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and DCB Bank for opening salary accounts for blue-collar workers. Niyo Bharat is focused on creating banking that is simpler, smarter, and safer for its customers by simplifying finance with technology. It also provides a Lifetime Zero Balance Prepaid card which is a permanent prepaid card with lock/unlock/block card options, along with the app. The app comes in 10 vernacular languages and has multiple features like viewing passbooks, downloading custom statements, raise support tickets all in your native language.
Bueno Finance: Bueno Finance is a financial services platform that provides short-term credit to blue-collar workers across India. By facilitating access to formal credit, they aim to help customers build their creditworthiness. Bueno Finance has a hybrid approach. A customer can apply for an instant personal loan/credit line that also helps build credit history and get higher ticket loans at lower rates. The customers can avail of this loan in their bank account, directly from NBFCs registered by RBI. It focuses on new-to-credit customers (NTC) where it offers small credit to help people build their credit history. Their “Scan Now Pay Later” product is a digital credit card over UPI. This is a multi-functional product; the customer can use it as a credit card or request money in their account as a cash loan.