Bajaj Finance has been doubling down on its digital presence in the past 18 months and managing director Rajeev Jain has detailed the next steps the firm will take to grow its virtual footprint.
The non-banking financial company (NBFC) is bringing its offerings under one roof as customers will have 30 services in one app across financial services, travel, entertainment, food, utility, and shopping among others.
Here is what you should watch out for as the company completes the first phase of digitisation and gears up for the next.
Implementation timeline
The upgraded app allows customers to secure loans, repay, get EMI cards, track their fixed deposits, and houses insurance, investment and no-cost EMI marketplaces. The company has also extended rewards in the form of cashback, vouchers and Bajaj Coins.
The insurance marketplace has gone live on the app with nine players offering around 800 products.
“Phase I has gone live with a staggered release methodology,” Jain explained.
Further, the company expects to make all Phase I features available to 100 percent of the customers by the end of January. However, adoption will also depend on how many customers choose to upgrade their apps.
The first update on Phase II will be given in Q2 of FY23 and the implementation will happen in three to four parts, the company said.
What Phase II will hold
In the second phase, the app features will increase from 52 to 72. As per the investor presentation, the app will provide context and geographical-based searches, have personalised app features, etc.
In terms of additional offerings, the app will house a two-wheeler marketplace, loans against fixed deposits, DBS Bank Card, short-term wallet loans, and merchant sponsored vouchers, among others.
The number of merchants on the platform offering no-cost EMI will also increase from 24,000 to 27,000.
Customer adoption plans
While old customers will be able to access the new features as and when they decide to update the app, new customers will all be onboarded onto the new app.
Any new customer choosing to secure an EMI card or loan through online or physical channels will have to use the app to access the loan agreement. The company’s plan is to weave in all customer journeys onto the app meaning the customer will be dependent on the platform for their updates and information.
Hiring for digital
For these digital plans, Bajaj Finance has hired close to 600 people in the last 18 months across data, content and tech. In the coming months, it plans to hire more engineers, app designers, digital domain specialists, payment domain resources, etc.
Cumulatively, the company plans to make a total of 1,400 lateral and fresh hires across Phase I and II.
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