This Sweden-Based Contact Management Company Is Betting On Fintech To Strengthen Presence In India TrueCaller is testing financial service products in India at a time when it is gearing up to initial a public offering
By Shreya Ganguly •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
At a time when higher Internet penetration is on the rise resulting in increased use of services—especially in the fintech space—Sweden-based caller identification giant TrueCaller is testing financial service products in India, according to a Bloomberg report. The move comes at a time when the company is gearing up to list itself on stock markets.
According to the company, it began a pilot programme in India this year to provide loans to small business owners. Quoting TrueCaller CEO Alan Mamedi, Bloomberg reported the service will be provided by early next year to some of its total 140 million users in the country. Apart from India, Truecaller Pay will also be launched in Nigeria early next year.
Several media reports show that during the pilot, online loan services were available across 22 cities in India and the amount offered ranged between INR 1 Lakh and INR 5 lakh.
TrueCaller's Fintech Plans
According to reports, the caller identification company has 20 million users in the country who own small businesses. As part of its fintech services, the company will offer loans to these users by way of financial partners.
Mamedi believes the move will bolster the company's preparedness for an initial public offering by 2022. He also said that within three years, revenues from subscriptions, advertising and fintech services will become equal.
According to the company, paid subscribers in India make about 30 per cent of Truecaller's revenue. This figure is expected to double to become more than 300 million Swedish kronor ($32 million) this year.
Sandeep Patil, Managing Director at Truecaller confirmed the company's fintech plans to Entrepreneur India and said, " In 2020, we will launch financial services for 140 million consumers in India and we will offer registration and demand generation tools for 20 million SMEs. In addition, we will also foray into payments in Africa. Over the last year we grew revenues by over 60% and are confident of strong continued growth which will pave the way for an IPO by 2022."
Focus on Indian Fintech Market
TrueCaller, which boasts of 100 million daily active users in India, has been looking to tap the growing fintech market for several years.
According to reports, the company launched its UPI-based Truecaller Pay in India in 2017 in collaboration with ICICI Bank. Under this, users could create UPI ID and transfer cash to UPI registered mobile numbers, carry out mobile recharges and more.
In 2018, Truecaller also acquired an Indian online payment company Chillr to strengthen its payments business. During this deal, Truecaller had previously announced its plan to enter the lending business in the country.
Online Lending Market in India
According to a 2018 report by Boston Consulting Group, the digital lending market in India may become $1 trillion market in India by 2023. The report also revealed that, the individual lending market is projected to record a 30 per cent year-on-year growth to reach $50 billion.
While TrueCaller enjoys dominance in caller identification market, with entry into fintech, the company will have to compete with other notable players in the online lending space such as Zestmoney, LoanTap, Credy, EarlySalary, Qbera, PaySense and i2iFunding, among others.
