Facebook India on Friday introduced a programme to assist small and medium companies (SMBs) that publicize on Facebook to get fast entry to credit score of between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh by means of impartial lending companions.
“India is the first Facebook country where this programme is getting rolled out. The programme is open to businesses registered across 200 towns and cities of India,” Facebook mentioned.
Through Facebook’s partnership with Indifi, small companies that publicize with Facebook can get loans at a predefined rate of interest of 17-20 per cent each year, it mentioned. “The programme will also enable small businesses to apply for loans without collateral through a quick online application. Small businesses applying under this programme will not be charged a processing fee by Indifi.”
Indifi may even disburse the mortgage quantity inside 5 working days of the borrower finishing all documentation formalities after acceptance of the supply by Indifi. Many small companies face challenges in securing loans of decrease ticket-size as they aren’t viable for a lot of lenders. “The goal of the initiative is to make business loans more easily accessible to small businesses, and reduce the credit gap within India’s MSME sector,” Facebook mentioned.
It added that small companies wholly or partly women-owned can get a particular 0.2 per cent discount each year on the utilized mortgage rate of interest from Indifi.
Indifi is a web based lending platform offering loans to small companies. Alok Mittal, who final led India operations of US enterprise capital agency Canaan Partners, is Indifi’s MD & CEO and co-founder.
Facebook mentioned, “The programme is a completely not-for-profit arrangement with Facebook’s lending partners and small businesses are not obligated to spend their loan amount on Facebook advertising,” The announcement got here at a digital occasion on ‘Enabling MSME growth through financial inclusion’, hosted by Facebook India together with FICCI. Ajit Mohan, VP & MD Facebook India, mentioned on the occasion, “Facebook is deeply committed to creating economic opportunities for India’s small businesses. Access to timely capital is more important than ever as it can help jump-start their recovery and drive big growth.”
Uday Shankar, President, FICCI mentioned, “FICCI has always advocated for stronger private sector participation for the growth of India’s MSMEs and welcomes the launch of Facebook’s small business loans initiative to make access to credit more easily available to the industry. We look forward to collaborating with Facebook over the coming months to develop programmes and solutions that can provide an impetus to the sector.”
