Show HN: Credy – Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform for India

https://www.credy.in/

by harshitsv67 • 9 years ago

65 56 9 years ago

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

We are the first P2P lending platform that uses end-to-end biometric verification to help eliminate fake users and impersonation. Peer lending is new to India, and recent financial digitisation has made the business and product offering more attractive.

Our customers are people who need small to medium personal loans -- they might need a loan for debt refinancing, a wedding, education or an emergency. We offers fast, paperless online loans to borrowers.

For lenders, Credy offers a professionally chosen, risk managed, trustworthy investment option, and great data and analytics tools. We guarantee 100% genuine and verified borrowers.

The founders have extensive background in finance and tech from Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale and Amazon.

Happy to answer questions you may have. Checkout our blog at http://blog.credy.in for interesting articles on finance in India.

- Harshit Vaishnav Co-Founder, Credy https://www.credy.in

mockingbirdz• 9 years ago

Nice idea! Good luck to you! A few things you might want to correct on the website. The investor_dashboard page leads to what looks like dummy data. On the Investor FAQ, the "How safe is the Investor's Money?" question doesn't work.

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

Thanks for your feedback. We had both the fixes in our rollout today, they should be fixed soon.

Happy that you liked the idea :)

dharma1• 9 years ago

Nice. Who do you use as your biometric verification provider?

zeusk2• 9 years ago

https://www.credy.in/investor_Dashboard

The site looks janky, the fonts aren't rendering properly in chrome. (http://i.imgur.com/iRvmG2p.png)

Also, I was thinking of putting in some money but isn't 18% default rates kinda high? or is this some kind of test data (without any indication).

verandaguy• 9 years ago

The site looks mostly OK under Firefox, but the <canvas>es are rendering at (I believe) 50% of their intended height. This results in graphics on there being smudged and distorted, looking twice as wide as they should be.

I'm on a HiDPI/Retina display, for what it's worth.

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the feedback! We are looking into it.

witty_username• 9 years ago

18% isn't that high; fixed deposits (almost no risk) give about 8-9%.

Inflation in India is quite high.

zeusk2• 9 years ago

I meant 18% default rates, not interest rates. But I'm still surprised there are 18% interest loans in India even though I was aware of the going 8~9% CD rates (am Indian).

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

Thanks for feedback. We are working on website along with rolling out new features. The dashboard page you saw was a mockup that was for testing (hence had all numbers as 18). We are fixing it, thanks for pointing out.

Actual default rate is of course lower than that.

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the feedback! Just to add to my partner Harshit's point, we are sending personalized reports to lenders which show live stats.

puranjay2• 9 years ago

Private lenders in India often charge up to 24-25%

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Like we described earlier, it was test data. Here is the dashboard for your reference (https://www.credy.in/investor_Dashboard) Apologies for the confusion.

nikhilsh1• 9 years ago

Hi the website looks rad - but can you elaborate a little on how you plan to increase the trust element on your website ? As this is a new concept, investors like me might be wary of investing.

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

Thanks for the appreciation!

Trust is indeed the biggest pain point in peer lending that we have focused hard to solve.

1. We guarantee 100% genuine and verified borrowers because of mandatory biometric authentication. This solves problem of identity theft and fake users.

2. We verify borrower's employer and their unique ID as well, so that there is a deterrent to improper behaviour on part of the borrower.

3. We co-invest with our lenders so that we have a skin in the game.

4. We also have auto-debit and post dated cheques to ensure money is returned on time.

dhruvrrp• 9 years ago

How exactly would biometric authentication stop fake users? Would you be using some central database to identify people or are you gonna make your own database?

How exactly do you plan to verify employer information?

Sorry if I may sound cynical but ive spent enough time in smaller indian cities that i can imagine ways on how people could try to take advantage of your platform.

super_melon2• 9 years ago

Couple of questions:

1. What exactly is Creedy's business model? You claim on your website that you charge zero fees, and digging around the FAQ reveals no other charges or figures, so I'm a bit curious as to how Creedy generates revenue.

2. What makes you standout from the throngs of P2P lenders in India? As I understand it, companies like Lendbox and Faircent pretty much offer the same service as you guys, plus already have an established user base, so why should I use your service?

P.S. Are you hiring interns?

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

1. Our pricing is mentioned here (https://www.credy.in/pricing). We believe that using automation and analytics well can contain costs significantly, and we being a marketplace model, can benefit from a lot of leverage in order to make more revenue with less per unit costs.

2. Trust is a pain point that we solve by ensuring end-to-end linking with Aadhaar. We also provide investment recommendations in order to minimise portfolio risk.

Interns - we would love to have a chat, drop us a mail at careers@credy.in mentioning this conversation. Thanks!

super_melon2• 9 years ago

Yep, just emailed you!

happy-go-lucky• 9 years ago

Looks like the site is delinked from here?

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Sorry about that. In case you can't see it, please check out here - https://www.credy.in

sonink• 9 years ago

Looks neat ! Like the way you are leveraging India stack.

Qs for you:

1. Shouldn't a new age lending platform not use old school mechanisms like CIBIL. I would guess that a new age lending platform build its own CIBIL.

2. Doesnt the requirement of Salary Slips preclude the very same people from accessing loans who do not otherwise have access to ? Also I am guessing that this will be like 1% of the population.

3. If you have the means to coinvest 50% and if you guarantee market beating outcomes, why don't go all the way to 100% ?

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

Thanks for the comment. Good to know you are aware of India Stack. CIBIL still holds valuable information. We overlay that with other inputs using our own proprietary algorithm.

Salary is a regular source of income, which improves repayment capacity.

We are a platform, we don't want to be lending our capital as a primary business.

abishekk92• 9 years ago

The invest now link doesn't seem to be working?

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

A fix was rolled out, you can also mail to founders@credy.in for lending opportunities. Thanks!

known• 9 years ago

What happens in case of non-payment of dues?

Credy will levy a penal interest of 24% per annum on the due amount, in case of non-payment by due date. In worst case Credy will help lenders in getting all possible legal resources for recovery of dues.

aragorn_sharma2• 9 years ago

Do you have an app where I can track my investments?

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the comment! We are launching an Android app soon

sureshn2• 9 years ago

Most of the non-nationalized banks in India brazenly cheat borrowers and even harass them for lot of unnecessary documents and even after closing out the loan, cause delay in issuing in loan closure letters etc. This kind of peer to peer lending platform is the need of the hour. I want to know if I can refinance my car loan through this platform ?

aragorn_sharma2• 9 years ago

I think they are not much worried about why you want a loan, as long as your financials are in good shape they would connect you with a lender. At least it seems like that from the website.

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the comment! Yes, new age lending companies like Credy are doing finance processing electronically and with minimal documentation. Please register as a borrower on the website, we will evaluate your profile.

sureshn2• 9 years ago

One question I have is , can we claim tax rebates if we raised a home loan from you folks

smdz2• 9 years ago

I don't like banks either - but this is incorrect.

What you call harassment is part of the Process for better due-dilegence. Most of the processes are created by bodies like RBI that are not-private. And they are bureaucratic and slow. But these same processes also prevent something like subprime crisis.

Unfortunately, when these regulating bodies work fast on policy making - people complain (remember daily demonetization policy changes??).

Getting loans from any bank (private or nationalized) definitely feels like harassment, but try to put yourself in their shoes.

Nationalized banks on the other hand - They have government to back them. So they can actually afford to be a bit wrong and govt will rescue them (from taxpayer's money)

Platforms like Creedy are great - but as an investor I would be worried about lending a larger amount

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

We totally understand your apprehension, this is a new concept in India. We have some risk mitigation strategies in place and rolling out many more soon (which I may add, typical banks do not use). Please reach us at founders@credy.in in case you would like to try this as an investment opportunity.

puranjay2• 9 years ago

Getting a loan or even a credit card in India as a freelancer is a massive pain in the ass. Most would flat out refuse to even entertain self-employed people.

smdz2• 9 years ago

As an investor, I assume Creedy will help with the legal documentation.

1. How does the platform ensure Borrower is paying on time and/or reminded for delayed-payments

2. Co-investment. This means you are sharing equal risk. But not sure how a platform could scale with the amount of money required. Are you planning to become a bank? I'd really like to know how your biz-model would work in this case. And how do you prevent a borrower-lender gang up to fraud you?

3. In case of non-payment, legal procedures could be costly and for small amounts it might be infeasible. How does Creedy help with the legal issues and legal costs?

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the comment!

1. Yes, we do the legal documentation so it is not a headache for you. Legal costs associated with non-payment are covered as part of this contract. 2. We have features like post dated checks and auto-debits from bank account to ensure borrowers pay on time, among other things. 3. We are not planning to become a bank, reason why banks have such a large spread is because they have huge operational expenses. We will always aim to be as lean as possible by automating processes.

moh_maya2• 9 years ago

Hi Pratish / harshit,

This looks very interesting. Was curious about a few things:

a) If I understand correctly, you are introducing p2p lending, on the lines of the Lending Club (the pioneer?) & I2I funding (Indian P2P lending company). Am I on the right track?

b) What is the typical customer profile you guys are targeting (and who have actually used your service?)

I ask because I'm curious about how you are planning to bridge the language / awareness gap if you are targeting non-English readers / speakers.

Disclosure: I am a partner in a start-up (3 months old) that is targeting blue-collar workers. Among the areas we are focusing on is financial literacy (clients being banks, etc.) Our experience has been that English is a significant barrier to adoption & communication. Therefore, pretty much everything we are developing is multi-lingual from the start.

(We are also developing solutions for the textile & apparel industries, safety & security services (Govt. and otherwise, and healthcare / pharma) )

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the comment! a) yes correct b) Please check out our investor dashboard https://www.credy.in/investor_Dashboard to see the data. c) You are absolutely right, language is a big barrier. We are also focusing on credit education and plan to expand to other languages. Please reach us at founders@credy.in to discuss more.

moh_maya2• 9 years ago

Hi Pratish, just emailed you! :)

aayushgoel92• 9 years ago

Do you guys plan to create pools from lender money, so as to reduce the risk even further?

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the comment! Yes, we will pool money from a lender and disburse it to multiple borrowers to reduce exposure per borrower.

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Here is our updated investor dashboard https://www.credy.in/investor_Dashboard which shows how Credy portfolio is performing. More metrics coming soon!

baron192• 9 years ago

How does the process work for an investor?

I just specify my risk appetite and you choose the borrower for me? or do you give me a list of options and I can choose who to lend to? Ideally I would prefer the first option.

Can I also limit my investments to a particular kind of borrowers, say who wants it for Educational purposes, is that possible?

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Thanks for the comment! Yes, we understand your risk appetite, and we expose borrowers whose risk profile matches yours. We can also filter or limit as per your preferred purpose.

baron192• 9 years ago

That's nice, even better if you can give investors some guarantees on default risk.

Another question. I was looking at the investor dashboard and it shows a 'salary to EMI ratio', does that mean people who aren't employed with a regular salary are out? Like small business owners and such.

In my personal experience, I find that they are usually more interested in short-term borrowing since their cash inflows and outflows don't always balance, leading them to having to borrow quickly and for a short term.

Rajat_Dindoria• 9 years ago

I currently invests in https://www.lendbox.in, even though lot of delays in repayment. No actual default has happened in my knowledge on the platform. What is your tackling solution for delays and potential defaults

pratishgandhi16• 9 years ago

Hi Rajat, thanks for your comment! We are rolling out auto-debit feature to pull money from the borrower's bank account so that you don't have to track it. We also have processes to followup with borrowers automatically before due dates to remind him to pay the installment.

harshitsv6710• 9 years ago

Thanks everyone for the great participation.

Team Credy https://www.credy.in

ruchika806• 9 years ago

Hi, I am registered on the site as a lender. But clicking on the Invest Now button takes me to the Contact Us page. I have dropped a note also at founders@credy.com but no response.

Show HN: Credy – Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform for India

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