Flipkart will put aside $15 to $20 million for an in-house credit marketplace, the e-commerce giant has collaborated with Axis Bank to enter the personal loan market, the ET has reported.
Senior vice president Prakash Sikaria who leads the company's social media platform Shopy will command the project. The company is planning to create a credit marketplace that will function as a separate entity within Flipkart, which is expected to be ready by the end of this year, according to the report.
Sikaria will own some stake in the credit marketplace in addition to Flipkart and its parent firm, Walmart, as per the report. The funding for the current project is sufficient but it will seek external capital infusion in the future.
According to information, this internal marketplace of Flipkart will provide a variety of financial products, including personal loans up to Rs 5 lakh. Future availability of these goods to customers and external platforms is anticipated.
The e-commerce giant already provides co-branded credit through Axis Bank. It is also attempting to expedite risk assessments prior to loan distribution by using an internal underwriting methodology. In addition to that, the business intends to introduce a third-party application for UPI transactions. This follows the Bengluru-based online retailer's separation from PhonePe, of which Walmart now owns the majority interest with support from investors like General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and others.