Flipkart to enter lending space with video KYC: Report

Flipkart is working on a video Know-Your-Customer (KYC) service and provide instant cardless credit to customers, according to report by The Economic Times.

The Supreme Court said last year that private companies were not allowed to make Aadhaar-based KYC mandatory for consumers.

The project, which has been rolled out on a pilot basis to 10,000 Flipkart customers, is pending approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"It's still on a pilot basis for which we’ve opened it up to 10,000 users only, but in two to three weeks we should roll it out to the larger customer base on Flipkart," said Suyash Motarwar, director - engineering at Flipkart told the paper.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the news.

The report did not specify if the Walmart-owned company had already applied to the central bank for a non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence.

"We have received an in-principle approval from the RBI and our lending partners are working very closely with the RBI to ensure we are compliant." Motarwar told The Economic Times.

Flipkart, which has been attempting to enter the fintech space for a while, already lends to 1.2 million customers through partner companies.

Flipkart is tracking 500 to 1,000 data points to evaluate an individual, including the ability and the intent to repay loans, the report said.

"We're using data points from our platform and outside to act as a proxy for this information, allowing us to give you credit without actually having a credit history," Motarwar told The Economic Times.

Flipkart currently has two fintech partners that provide EMI services – Kissht and ZestMoney.