LoanTap – Innovators in the Fintech Space

We talked to Satyam Kumar of LoanTap about the online lending platform, and he had the following to say:-

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Satyam Kumar: The Pandemic has been a tough time for me, my family and LoanTap family too. Our resilience has helped us stay strong. We have maintained the social norms to ensure that everyone is safe and sees the pink of their health.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded LoanTap.

Satyam Kumar: As an ex-banking professional with 20+ years of experience, I have been familiar with the traditional lending sector’s shortcomings. So unlike other startups, we also identified a couple of gaps in our sector which became an opportunity for us to enter the market with a product that can solve our customers’ problems. My partner, former tech professional Vikas Kumar, realized that there is a pressing need for credit solutions in the upwardly mobile salaried segment. Thus, unravelling the idea of establishing LoanTap in 2016 with an objective to create consumer-friendly one-stop solutions for the millennials. 

How does LoanTap innovate? 

Satyam Kumar: LoanTap is a fintech platform delivering flexible EMI free loan products to the salaried millennials and bringing their dreams to reality. We are innovating as we offer unique financial solutions to our customers like Personal Overdraft, Credit Card Takeovers, Advance Salary Loans etc. To enhance our customer experience and to make our services available to them within a few hours, we have maximized the use of technology. We have formulated in-house proprietary algorithms to enhance our credit sourcing, credit profiling, eligibility checks and loan disbursal processes. Our insight-led experimentation has helped us deliver the desired results.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Satyam Kumar: As the Government announced the Moratorium, there was a deluge of Moratorium requests incoming on a day to day basis. Processing these requests manually was obviously not an option. Technology helped automate the entire process and resolve the requests at a fast speed. Technology helped ramp up, record and update the necessary information that was required to support the flow of data and information throughout the system. Also, we were quick to adopt more communication platforms like Video Calling, WhatsApp and SMS to communicate with customers for repayments as well as Moratorium requests. The teams took it up as a challenge and helped us firefight the situation with ease and efficiency. 

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Satyam Kumar: Yes, of course, 2020 certainly was not the easiest year of the decade. We learnt that every challenge brings with it an opportunity. We took this time to connect more with our customers and our employees and conducted various Webinars to help them sail through difficult times. 

How do you project yourself and LoanTap in the future? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Satyam Kumar: Fintech is a very competitive field, and it has the potential to disrupt the financial system through innovation. Our future looks even brighter as people are now moving towards digitization which in turn is boosting our sector. We’re all geared for this new transitioning phase and will continue to bring new products that we feel need the hour. Also, recently we’ve introduced the concept of LoanTap Marketplace where we wish to deliver loan solutions for Millennials’ financial requirements.

Your final thoughts?

Satyam Kumar: LoanTap, at present, is largely focusing on the demand coming from salaried professionals with its business footprint across 20+ cities in India. A few years from now, we can see ourselves making deeper inroads into tier II and tier III markets and further diversify our loan offerings based on customer requirements. 

Your website?

https://loantap.in/