Bajaj Finance in talks with e-tailers for EMI payments

Hyderabad: Bajaj Finance Limited, the lending arm of Bajaj Finserv, is in advanced stages of discussion with major ecommerce players in India to offer interest-free EMI (equal monthly installment) financing options to the their customers, online.

The non-banking finance company currently has five million Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Cards out in the Indian market. Its smart payment option enables customers to convert their purchases into EMIs in real-time, at the point of sale by using their card. Almost one-fifth of durable sales in India currently happen on Bajaj.

“Ecommerce is part of our agenda, and we have already tied up with Flipkart 10 days ago to extend our online EMI payment option. We will see how it plays out, before bringing a couple of other ecommerce players on board in the next few months,” Sanjeev Moghe, Business Head (EMI cards), Bajaj Finance, told The Hans India.

Bajaj Finance, which has Rs 32,410-crore assets under management as on March 31, 2016, on Thursday extended its EMI Network Card offering into discretionary spending of customers, which includes retail fashion, travel and small appliances.

The facility is currently available on a minimum invoice amount of Rs 5,000. However, we are already seeing an average ticket size of Rs 9,000,” Moghe said. The company, which has partnered 300 retail fashion, travel and small appliances outlets in Hyderabad, Pune and Baroda, is planning to roll out the service in 13 more Indian cities by the end of next month.

“Our sense is that, this (EMI Network Card) is a disruptive opportunity for us,” Moghe said, adding that the company was looking at covering 50,000 outlets, pan-India, over the next three to four years.