Flipkart in talks with digital lending startups to offer financial services and products

E-commerce platform, Flipkart is in talks with a clutch of digital lending startups to offer financial products, sources revealed.

The Bengaluru-headquartered firm has created a focused team for financial services and products, they said.

One of the spokesperson said, "While several e-commerce companies are looking at financial products, Flipkart is leading the pack and is keen to launch this as a revenue-generating business and also to help its customers. These startups are in talks with Flipkart executives including Monomita Roy Avasarala, lead product manager for fintech and consumer credit products at Flipkart."

Flipkart already offers access to loans to sellers on its platform in partnerships with banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). Last year, it tied up with Axis Bank to launch a credit card with discount benefits.

Apart from credit and loans, Flipkart is also looking at mutual funds and insurance products, one of the executives said.

Srikanth Meenakshi, Co-founder, FundsIndia, said, "The margins for Flipkart on products like mutual funds through partnerships could be as low as 1%. But the fact is that Flipkart does not have the expertise in this area, which is why they will need to partner with these platforms. The advantage for them will be that products like mutual funds are sticky products, and the platform can become a one-stop place for its customers."