Showing posts with label Credit Score. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Credit Score. Show all posts

GoodScore Raises $13M to Transform How Indians Track and Manage Credit

GoodScore Raises $13M to Transform How Indians Track and Manage Credit

GoodScore, a Bengaluru-based AI-powered fintech platform, has raised $13 million in Series A funding, led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners and Saison Capital. Founded in 2023 by Sanchit Bansal, GoodScore enables users to manage their credit health through personalised, AI-driven insights and expert guidance, helping them improve their credit scores and manage their borrowings.

India’s booming fintech ecosystem has made access to credit easier than ever, but it has also led to growing over-leverage and repayment stress. With multiple loan and credit-card options at their fingertips, many consumers are now juggling several EMIs without full visibility into their obligations. Fintech NBFCs now account for nearly three-fourths of all personal loans by count, and delinquencies are rising as borrowers stretch themselves thin. As of March 2025, personal loans overdue by more than 90 days rose to 3.6%, a six-quarter high, while credit-card dues overdue for 91-360 days surged 44% year-on-year to nearly ₹34,000 crore. This spike can be linked to borrowers holding three or more unsecured loans simultaneously, creating a need for responsible credit management tools that bring visibility, control and discipline back to consumers’ financial lives.

To solve this growing challenge, GoodScore offers an integrated, AI-powered credit management platform that brings together credit bureau data, transactional insights, and behavioural patterns to deliver real-time credit monitoring, personalised score improvement guidance, and repayment tracking, all in one place. The platform also features AI-led educational content, spend tracking, and access to human experts, helping users make smarter financial decisions, improve their credit scores and maintain healthy credit habits. GoodScore serves India’s growing base of credit-active users, from young earners to seasoned borrowers, enabling them to understand, manage and improve their credit profiles with confidence, and ultimately access loans at affordable rates.

Sanchit Bansal, Founder, GoodScore, said: “We started GoodScore with the belief that managing credit shouldn’t be as stressful or confusing as it is today. We wish to change how Indians interact with credit by bringing every user’s credit life into one view, helping them understand their loans, track payments and make informed, data-driven financial decisions. Our goal is to make responsible credit management a mainstream habit for millions of Indians.”

Ishaan Mittal, Managing Director, Peak XV, “India has an active borrower base of over 250 million consumers. GoodScore is on a mission to empower them by putting them in charge of their credit health. They can track scores, take actionable steps to resolve bureau disputes and manage repayments seamlessly. GoodScore is not just helping users improve scores, it is unlocking credit access and fueling true financial inclusion in India. We are proud to be a part of this mission with Sanchit and team.”

Mayank Jain, Principal, Stellaris Venture Partners, said, “Having known Sanchit for over a decade, I have seen firsthand his deep customer-backwards orientation and product-first mindset. That conviction made it natural for us to back him from day zero, and it is reflected in GoodScore's formidable customer NPS and trust among users. The company's strong traction today reflects the rising importance of credit health in India, with COVID serving as a key catalyst in this shift. As a partner since 2023, Stellaris has been privileged to support GoodScore's journey, and we look forward to the continued impact they will create.”

Since its launch, GoodScore has rapidly scaled to millions of active users pan-India, with strong adoption across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. GoodScore plans to use the funds raised to deepen its AI-led advisory offerings, expand its tech, product and operations teams, and further enhance its credit marketplace, connecting borrowers and lenders across India.

About GoodScore: GoodScore is an AI-powered platform that simplifies credit management for Indian consumers. From personalised credit advisory and real-time credit score monitoring to flexible repayments and spend tracking, GoodScore empowers users to take control of their financial health. The company partners with leading financial institutions including HDFC Bank, KreditBee, and Tata Capital, building a premier credit ecosystem. Website: https://www.goodscore.app/

How Financial Marketplaces are Making India More Credit Savvy

How Financial Marketplaces are Making India More Credit Savvy

Though credit score has been in existence in India since the early 2000s, the importance of having a good credit score is now more emphasised than ever. The entire credit ecosystem in India is witnessing growth with more and more Indians becoming credit aware. Loans and credit cards, which were earlier seen by consumers as need-based products, are now catching up as instruments to achieve goals and attain a lifestyle they desire.

Financial marketplaces like Paisabazaar have been instrumental in bringing this shift in the Indian financial space. These platforms not only make credit availability easier but also guide the consumers towards making the right financial decisions.

Here are a few ways how financial marketplaces are making India more credit-informed:

1. Easy and Free Access to Credit Score and Credit Report

Now that consumers have understood the importance of building and maintaining a good credit score, they also require platforms where they can get easy access to their credit score and credit report. A number of financial marketplaces provide free credit score to users with monthly updates. Users can also download their monthly credit report, which includes a detailed analysis of how they are managing their credit accounts. Checking credit reports regularly helps consumers understand the problem points due to which their credit score may be falling and what they can do to improve it.

2. Clear Guidance on Improving Credit Health

Owing to the lack of knowledge and reckless use of credit, a lot of people have poor credit score. Though they understand that a bad credit score will make it difficult to avail credit and may lead to high interest rates on loans, they do not know how to get out of this situation. Financial platforms, through their credit health and credit repair services, help such consumers improve their score. For example, if someone has been paying only the minimum amount due on multiple credit cards, they would be stuck in a debt spiral. In such situation, they may be advised to consolidate their credit card debts. With a poor score, however, securing a new loan may be difficult. This is why approaching this situation with the help of a financial service provider could be the right decision. They would help in availing a personal loan or suggest other solutions.

3. Platform to Compare and Choose

People need to take loans for multiple purposes ranging from medical emergency to covering the cost of a holiday. Those who have good credit scores would be eligible for loans from several providers who would offer them varied rates of interest. It could be a tedious task to visit each provider’s website and compare. Third-party marketplaces allow consumers to check multiple offers on a single platform, compare options and choose the one that best suits their needs. Similarly, individuals looking for credit cards can check their eligibility on these platforms, compare the features and benefits that each card offers and then make an informed decision.

4. Knowledge on Managing Credit Products

For a layman, getting acquainted with financial terminology and learning about credit management would not be easy. Hence, in addition to credit availability and access to credit scores, financial marketplaces also have the responsibility to educate the masses on managing their personal finance. Most of these platforms would have thoroughly researched articles and resources guiding people on how to manage their credit responsibly. Such articles are supported with real-life examples to help readers relate to the problem and find a sound solution. For instance, readers can learn about how certain credit products work, the kind of charges they entail and the mistakes to avoid.

5. Platform for Budgeting and Financial Management

Apart from marketplaces that focus on credit score, loans and credit cards, there are certain websites and apps that provide budgeting solutions to the users. They typically include budgeting tools that would help users set up their monthly budget and monitor how they are managing their cash flow. Some of these apps may also provide goal based saving solutions wherein the users would have to input the purpose for which they wish to start saving, the amount they would like to save, etc. The app would then suggest the right way and the right amount to save in order to reach the said goal within the desired period. While it is possible to budget and manage finances on your own, such apps make the job much easier and hassle-free.

6. One-stop Investment Solutions

Investments seem even more complicated than managing credit cards and loans. It needs continuous monitoring and also involves risk. Hence, a number of financial services platforms focus on providing investment solutions to people pertaining to stocks and mutual funds. Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is also a popular way to invest these days and several apps help users with it.

While the credit market in India is still growing, it has come a long way with the help of financial platforms. Consumers are now more confident in managing credit products as the myths around loans and credit cards are dissipating. People, not only from metros but from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, are now more informed about their benefits and are learning to use credit responsibly.

New to the Concept of Credit Scores? Here's the Gist



Technology drives just about every facet of life in this day and age. You have probably considered getting your hands on a credit card to handle your finances in the modern world. However, you should know that credit cards can be just as useful as they can be detrimental, depending on the way you use them. If you are here, chances are you are new to the world of credit. Here's what you need to know about credit scores:

Credit Score in a nutshell

In a nutshell, a credit score represents your chances of repaying the loans that your lenders give you. It shows them how much of a risk you can be. Your credit score ranges from 300 to 850 and is determined by your credit history. The higher your credit score, the more reliable you come across. A high credit score can fetch you a bunch of benefits.

 

What benefits can you expect from a good credit score?


If you plan on figuring out how to improve your credit score, it does not hurt to find out what benefits you can get from it. Here are the main ones: 
 

Better chances of getting your loan and credit cards approved

With a high credit score potentially comes higher chances of credit card and loan approval. Most consumers and borrowers tend to have a poor credit history, leading them to avoid applying for a new credit card. While a high credit score does not guarantee anything, it certainly boosts your chances of getting your loan or credit approved.

Banks and lenders usually consider an array of factors, including income and debt. You could still leverage your high credit score and get the loan or credit card you want. 

Reduced Interest rates on Credit Cards and Loans

Reduced interest rates is another benefit that you get for a high credit score. Having low-interest rates means you have to repay less and primarily the principal amount, leaving you more money for your purchases. If you have a high credit score, you qualify for loans or credit cards with lower interest rates.
 

Boost your chances of getting approved for higher Credit Limits

The slew of benefits does not end with better interest rates and credit cards. You can increase your credit limit if you have the credit score your lenders are looking for. As mentioned, by having an excellent credit score, you are demonstrating your ability to borrow and repay the money on time. While you could qualify for deals with reasonably high credit limits with a sub-par credit score, your options are severely limited.   

Better negotiating power

As you may have guessed, building and maintaining an excellent credit score gives you more leverage. You have more options on the table to choose from, boosting your chances to negotiate and get the terms and conditions you want. However, this does not hold if you do not have a low credit score. A low credit score translates to fewer options, which means you have much lower negotiating power. 
 

What Determines Your Credit Score?


The following factors affect your credit score: 

Payment history:
Your overall payment history needs to look good because it accounts for 35%. Make sure you do not have any missed payments or loan defaults. 
 
Current loan debt: This parameter accounts for 30%. You need to find out how much money you owe and if your credit cards are maxed out. 
 
How long have you had credit?: The length of time you've had credit accounts for 15%. This parameter shows how long you have managed to hold on to a credit card and make timely repayments. 
 
New credit: This parameter accounts for 10%. Make sure you do not apply for too many credit cards in a short period. 
 
Credit types: Here is another parameter you ought to be aware of. This parameter accounts for 10%. Ideally, you should have a variety of debt types, including, auto, home, credit cards, and others.

Ways to Boost your Credit Score


Now that you know how vital your credit score is, here are a few things you can do to boost it:   

Make timely payments

If you have late payments, make sure you get them out of the way as soon as possible. However, ideally, you should make all your payments on time. Maybe you could use Cred for paying your credit card bills. It is quite common to be behind on your payments from time-to-time. However, keep in mind that you cannot solve this by closing your account altogether.

If you have a good payment history, you could consider asking your lender to forgive a couple of late payments. However, this may only work if you have been able to build trust with your lender, which you can primarily do by making timely payments consistently. Ultimately, you have to convince your lender that you are not a liability.   

Keep track of your credit card reports

As obvious as it sounds, you would be surprised how hordes of customers fail to check their credit card reports regularly and end up paying unnecessary charges as a result. You can expect to find some unintentional errors on your credit report from time-to-time. However, you need to identify and rectify them as early as possible or end up paying extra. Doing so will lower your credit score in the long run.
Identify areas of improvement

As you can see above, there are a few parameters that affect your credit score. Once you go through your credit card reports a few times, you need to identify which ones to improve. Considering how payment history accounts for 35%, make sure that you do not have too many overdue payments, and reduce your chances of coming across as a liability.

Besides that, you may want to take a look at your debt amount and how old your account is, considering these parameters account for 30% and 15% respectively. A record that shows consistently timely payments can take you a long way.

Request a higher credit limit

It is vital to keep your credit utilization rate low. Ideally, around 30%. However, if you cannot manage to do this, consider asking your lender to increase your credit card limit. Having a decent payment history can help you convince your lenders to do this for you. By increasing your credit limit, you can keep your credit utilization ratio intact, thereby increasing your overall credit score, while simultaneously, boosting your purchasing power.   

Avoid closing unused Credit Cards

Closing your unused credit cards is a bad idea. Keeping them open is a smart strategy as long as you do not have to pay annual fees. Closing your unused credit card account boosts your credit card utilization ratio, which as you know, will lower your credit score.
Conclusion

If you are a newbie and want to get a credit card, by all means, go ahead. However, you need to understand the terms and conditions and take your credit score very seriously. Make sure you build a solid credit profile to boost your credit score. The tips mentioned in this article will help you do this.

Conclusion

If you are a newbie and want to get a credit card, by all means, go ahead. However, you need to understand the terms and conditions and take your credit score very seriously. Make sure you build a solid credit profile to boost your credit score. The tips mentioned in this article will help you do this.


Paisabazaar.com Takes its Credit Awareness Initiative Deeper into India, Launches Free Credit Report in 3 Regional Languages

  • Paisabazaar is the only financial player in India to offer free credit report in regional languages to consumers
  • Today, Consumers can read and download their free credit report from the Paisabazaar platform (web and App) in 5 languages
  • In its mission to ease access to credit for Bharat, the fintech plans to introduce its free credit score initiative in all major regional languages
After becoming the country's first financial entity to launch free credit score in Hindi last year, Paisabazaar.com, India's largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced today it has introduced its credit report initiative in three regional languages. Consumers can now read and download their free place to get credit report online from Paisabazaar in Marathi, Telugu and Kannada, in addition to English and Hindi.

A customer survey last year conducted by Paisabazaar.com revealed that over 60% of customers preferred to have the option of reading their credit reports in their regional language, along with English. Paisabazaar.com began offering free credit reports in Hindi in December 2019 to become the country's only financial entity to offer credit report in a regional language.

Naveen Kukreja, CEO & Co-founder, Paisabazaar.com, said, "Over the years, conversations with customers and data have indicated a clear and dire need of deeper awareness around credit score. Introduction of the credit report in Hindi last year was a step in that direction and we have witnessed a tremendous response. We now want to take this initiative deeper across diverse geographies."

Paisabazaar.com says the introduction of credit score in three new languages should help a large portion of 36% of its credit score customers coming from the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, plus other Marathi, Telugu and Kannada speakers, residing in other states. Over 10 crore people in India reportedly access the Internet in Marathi, Telugu and Kannada.

Also, according to the RBI data, Maharashtra tops the states in terms of outstanding credit and number of loan accounts with the scheduled commercial banks. The top 10 states also include Karnataka (4th), Telangana (6th) and Andhra Pradesh (9th).

However, only 42% of Paisabazaar.com customers who have checked their credit report from these 4 states on Paisabazaar.com are credit healthy, which means more than half of them would find it challenging to be approved for any lending product, especially in the current scenario when most banks and financial institutions are conservative in issuing any new loans, due to the widespread disruptions in incomes and the economic slowdown.

Paisabazaar.com plans to closely work with all its bureau partners and innovate to advocate responsible credit behaviour, and steadily increase India's extremely low credit penetration ratio.

Ashish Singhal, Managing Director, Experian Credit Information Company of India, said, "At Experian, we are committed to enabling financial inclusion to not only help consumers build creditworthiness, but to get better access to credit. Low awareness of credit score and factors that influence it can limit one's ability to borrow. Paisabazaar.com's initiative to leverage regional languages to deepen credit awareness puts consumers in control by staying on top of their credit report and building it over time to ensure easy access at the time of need."

In February this year, close to 9 lakh loan or credit card enquiries were made by Paisabazaar.com customers from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone, bureau data shows. Paisabazaar.com says its data indicates 32% of the pre-COVID volumes of enquiries for loans and credit cards is now back in these 4 states. However, a poor credit score can be a major roadblock for consumers today looking for a loan.

Radhika Binani, Chief Product Officer, Paisabazaar.com, said, "Over the short to medium term, lending will be restricted to customers with steady income and strong credit profiles due to the pandemic. In this situation, tracking and maintaining a strong credit score becomes critical. Our aim is to raise awareness and inculcate good credit behaviour that should go a long way in meeting immediate credit needs and fulfilling important life goals."

Paisabazaar.com has been offering free credit score to customers on its platform since 2017 and over the years, it says, there has been a sharp rise in customers from outside the top metros visiting their platform to access credit products. Today, customers from over 1200 cities and towns enquire about a lending product every month on Paisabazaar.com.

With India's Internet penetration reaching ~650 million, Paisabazaar.com says it wants to take its consumer education initiative on credit score into Tier 2 & 3 cities, across India. Over the next 12-18 months, it plans to introduce its free credit score initiative in every major regional language.

Nanaiah Kalengada, Managing Director & Country Head - India & ME, Equifax, said, "Equifax is at the forefront of delivering credit literacy to all with our purpose statement being 'Helping people live their financial best'. By building the credit score product in regional languages, Paisabazaar.com is not only promoting credit awareness and financial literacy but also offering a wider choice and enhanced experience to the consumers India."

According to Paisabazaar.com, by offering access to relevant information in preferred languages would not just build familiarity with formal financial products but also, help increase the purchase of financial products through the more convenient and transparent digital medium.

Paisabazaar.com under its credit awareness initiative has been strongly focussing on voice, vernacular and videos to provide an enhanced customer experience on its platform. The fintech's free credit score product is available on voice-based platforms like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, along with WhatsApp, enabling seamless tracking of credit score. It also runs a credit advisory service which helps customers build a high credit score through customized advice and recommendations from its team of credit experts.

This Silicon Valley-based Startup Aims To Solve Indian Farmers' Age-old Problem Using Its Agricultural Intelligence Engine

Not so long back, over 50,000 farmers marched to Mumbai for their demands of a complete loan waiver, fair pay and transfer of adivasi land to farmers who have been tilling it for years. These farmers marched about 180 km in the blazing sun over the six days.

The reason of this age-old problem of farmers in India is the very fact that these farmers have loans which they haven't been able to pay back and a majority of them have been denied loans from formal financial institutions resulting in farmers taking money from loans sharks.

Estimates suggest 500 million smallholder farmers globally need financing of $450 billion approximately; yet only 3% of the need is met.

The Problem


[caption id="attachment_125054" align="aligncenter" width="700"]indian-farmers-debt Image - Udghosh.in[/caption]

The fact that banks continue to shy away from giving loans to farmers is because, they don't have any data to make a decision to accept or reject a loan request.

The current scenario is that when a farmer approaches a bank for loan, he, among other papers, submits his survey ID, a bank employee is physically required to visit the land and submit a report regarding the loan request.

This "Agrarian crisis" is the rampant phenomenon of suicides among Indian farmers from 1990 to the present. It has been exacerbated by the inability to repay growing debt resulting from loans often taken from local moneylenders and micro-credit banks to pay for high priced high yield seeds marketed by MNCs and the non-implementation of minimum support prices (MSP) by state governments.

Between 1998 to 2018, this one of the most burning issue of India has resulted in the suicides of 300,000 farmers in the country, on record.

The Solution


Harvesting in India

A Silicon Valley-based startup Harvesting, with its predictive Machine Learning (ML) algorithms has created a product for financial institutions (banks, MFI, co-operative, commercial and development banks) which will provide them specific farm land data by putting in farmer's survey ID. It will give them a snapshot of the land, its yield capacity and types of crops that can be cultivated. Thus making it more efficient for banks to disburse loans to farmers.

Harvesting is essentially a FinTech startup headquartered in Silicon Valley, and now has 100% subsidiary & operations in India.

The startup is building Agriculture Intelligence Engine (AIE) which will help bring speed, accuracy and transparency in the world’s largest and oldest industry -- agriculture -- to drive financial inclusion for farmers around the world. AIE uses remote sensing satellite imagery from from NASA and EU Space Agency, on-ground data and other data sources, and then converts it into credit score for farmers and translates that into data insights with the help artificial intelligence (AI).

Such data insights are currently missing from the loan value chain in India, which in turn, has kept financial institutions from lending heavily to the farmers here. With the application of big data and AI, Harvesting aims to make the farm loan value chain more efficient in India.

Harvesting aims to work with financial institutions (FIs) like banks, co-operatives, development and commercial banks, micro-finance institutions to provide them accurate and specific data about farmlands in India.

Harvesting's technology enables agri-lenders to get a snapshot of his land, crop yield, time for sowing and harvesting at a touch of a button along with a credit score of the farmer by just providing Survey-ID of the farm. Such data insights are currently missing from the loan value chain in India, which in turn, has kept financial institutions from lending heavily to the farmers here. With the application of big data and AI, Harvesting aims to make the farm loan value chain more efficient in India.

Harvesting has developed 3 complementary products to help financial institutions finance smallholder farmers:

  1. Credit Risk Scoring System

  2. Farmlands Monitoring System

  3. Land Records Monitoring System



Funds for the Cause


To date, Harvesting has raised an angel round last year and has received a grant from Catalyst Fund, an initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and JPMorgan Chase & Co as a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The Company will be raising a large seed round this year.

The Founder


[caption id="attachment_125056" align="aligncenter" width="700"]Ruchit G Garg
, Founder CEO, Harvesting Inc Ruchit G Garg, Founder CEO, Harvesting Inc [/caption]

Harvesting is a brain child of a serial entrepreneur Ruchit Garg, who started the Company in 2016 . After selling previous company in 2015, Ruchit (who is based in Silicon Valley, California) had a choice of starting another tech company which would cater to ever growing consumer internet or start a technology driven for-profit business which can drive immense impact on the ground and make a world a better place for everyone. During a trip to India, Ruchit realized that most of the issues small farm holder farmers faces across the world is due to asymmetry between farms & anyone else in the agriculture value chain.

Ruchit believes that current technology can solve this massive information gap which not only will solve issues for small farmers, but have power to help reduce the food security for humanity. Being a technology entrepreneur, he decided to build 'Agriculture Intelligence Engine’ which leverages AI & Remote Sensing, to help connect finance with farmers making it easy for financial service providers (agri-lenders) to work with farmers.

Prior to Harvesting, Ruchit was Founder & CEO of 9Slides, an online learning company for growing businesses, which was acquired by Limeade in 2015. Ruchit has worked for Microsoft at its Headquarter at Redmond, WA and Hyderabad for several years and contributed on many key projects such as XBOX Live, Windows 7, MSN Games etc. Ruchit is also chairman of Shobhit University Alumni Network, and mentor/advisor to several startups in India and USA.

Ruchit is also chairman of Shobhit University Alumni Network, and mentor/advisor to several startups in India and USA.

Plans for India


In April of this year, Harvesting rolled out its operations formally in India and recently on-boarded Sunil Srivasatva, a former Deputy Managing Director of Indias largest bank, State Bank of India, in the companys advisory board.

The Company will be building its team in Bangalore, and is in discussions with many major commercial and PSU banks who are active in agri-lending vertical.

The Road Ahead



Harvesting has recently partnered with World Bank’s CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) to develop new credit scoring mechanism in Uganda to improve their access to loans. The company will support Pride, Uganda’s leading micro-finance institution. Harvesting is working on multiple such projects in different geographical locations including Brazil, Tanzania, Kenya, Turkey and India.

Silicon Valley and India will be the two major centers of operations for the Company. However, Harvesting is seeing interest from financial institutions in markets like Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Nepal and Myanmar and also consider opening a subsidiary in African continent to serve the continent

This Silicon Valley-based Startup Aims To Solve Indian Farmers' Age-old Problem Using Its Agricultural Intelligence Engine

Not so long back, over 50,000 farmers marched to Mumbai for their demands of a complete loan waiver, fair pay and transfer of adivasi land to farmers who have been tilling it for years. These farmers marched about 180 km in the blazing sun over the six days.

The reason of this age-old problem of farmers in India is the very fact that these farmers have loans which they haven't been able to pay back and a majority of them have been denied loans from formal financial institutions resulting in farmers taking money from loans sharks.

Estimates suggest 500 million smallholder farmers globally need financing of $450 billion approximately; yet only 3% of the need is met.

The Problem


[caption id="attachment_125054" align="aligncenter" width="700"]indian-farmers-debt Image - Udghosh.in[/caption]

The fact that banks continue to shy away from giving loans to farmers is because, they don't have any data to make a decision to accept or reject a loan request.

The current scenario is that when a farmer approaches a bank for loan, he, among other papers, submits his survey ID, a bank employee is physically required to visit the land and submit a report regarding the loan request.

This "Agrarian crisis" is the rampant phenomenon of suicides among Indian farmers from 1990 to the present. It has been exacerbated by the inability to repay growing debt resulting from loans often taken from local moneylenders and micro-credit banks to pay for high priced high yield seeds marketed by MNCs and the non-implementation of minimum support prices (MSP) by state governments.

Between 1998 to 2018, this one of the most burning issue of India has resulted in the suicides of 300,000 farmers in the country, on record.

The Solution


Harvesting in India

A Silicon Valley-based startup Harvesting, with its predictive Machine Learning (ML) algorithms has created a product for financial institutions (banks, MFI, co-operative, commercial and development banks) which will provide them specific farm land data by putting in farmer's survey ID. It will give them a snapshot of the land, its yield capacity and types of crops that can be cultivated. Thus making it more efficient for banks to disburse loans to farmers.

Harvesting is essentially a FinTech startup headquartered in Silicon Valley, and now has 100% subsidiary & operations in India.

The startup is building Agriculture Intelligence Engine (AIE) which will help bring speed, accuracy and transparency in the world’s largest and oldest industry -- agriculture -- to drive financial inclusion for farmers around the world. AIE uses remote sensing satellite imagery from from NASA and EU Space Agency, on-ground data and other data sources, and then converts it into credit score for farmers and translates that into data insights with the help artificial intelligence (AI).

Such data insights are currently missing from the loan value chain in India, which in turn, has kept financial institutions from lending heavily to the farmers here. With the application of big data and AI, Harvesting aims to make the farm loan value chain more efficient in India.

Harvesting aims to work with financial institutions (FIs) like banks, co-operatives, development and commercial banks, micro-finance institutions to provide them accurate and specific data about farmlands in India.

Harvesting's technology enables agri-lenders to get a snapshot of his land, crop yield, time for sowing and harvesting at a touch of a button along with a credit score of the farmer by just providing Survey-ID of the farm. Such data insights are currently missing from the loan value chain in India, which in turn, has kept financial institutions from lending heavily to the farmers here. With the application of big data and AI, Harvesting aims to make the farm loan value chain more efficient in India.

Harvesting has developed 3 complementary products to help financial institutions finance smallholder farmers:

  1. Credit Risk Scoring System

  2. Farmlands Monitoring System

  3. Land Records Monitoring System



Funds for the Cause


To date, Harvesting has raised an angel round last year and has received a grant from Catalyst Fund, an initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and JPMorgan Chase & Co as a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The Company will be raising a large seed round this year.

The Founder


[caption id="attachment_125056" align="aligncenter" width="700"]Ruchit G Garg
, Founder CEO, Harvesting Inc Ruchit G Garg, Founder CEO, Harvesting Inc [/caption]

Harvesting is a brain child of a serial entrepreneur Ruchit Garg, who started the Company in 2016 . After selling previous company in 2015, Ruchit (who is based in Silicon Valley, California) had a choice of starting another tech company which would cater to ever growing consumer internet or start a technology driven for-profit business which can drive immense impact on the ground and make a world a better place for everyone. During a trip to India, Ruchit realized that most of the issues small farm holder farmers faces across the world is due to asymmetry between farms & anyone else in the agriculture value chain.

Ruchit believes that current technology can solve this massive information gap which not only will solve issues for small farmers, but have power to help reduce the food security for humanity. Being a technology entrepreneur, he decided to build 'Agriculture Intelligence Engine’ which leverages AI & Remote Sensing, to help connect finance with farmers making it easy for financial service providers (agri-lenders) to work with farmers.

Prior to Harvesting, Ruchit was Founder & CEO of 9Slides, an online learning company for growing businesses, which was acquired by Limeade in 2015. Ruchit has worked for Microsoft at its Headquarter at Redmond, WA and Hyderabad for several years and contributed on many key projects such as XBOX Live, Windows 7, MSN Games etc. Ruchit is also chairman of Shobhit University Alumni Network, and mentor/advisor to several startups in India and USA.

Ruchit is also chairman of Shobhit University Alumni Network, and mentor/advisor to several startups in India and USA.

Plans for India


In April of this year, Harvesting rolled out its operations formally in India and recently on-boarded Sunil Srivasatva, a former Deputy Managing Director of Indias largest bank, State Bank of India, in the companys advisory board.

The Company will be building its team in Bangalore, and is in discussions with many major commercial and PSU banks who are active in agri-lending vertical.

The Road Ahead



Harvesting has recently partnered with World Bank’s CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) to develop new credit scoring mechanism in Uganda to improve their access to loans. The company will support Pride, Uganda’s leading micro-finance institution. Harvesting is working on multiple such projects in different geographical locations including Brazil, Tanzania, Kenya, Turkey and India.

Silicon Valley and India will be the two major centers of operations for the Company. However, Harvesting is seeing interest from financial institutions in markets like Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Nepal and Myanmar and also consider opening a subsidiary in African continent to serve the continent

MoneyTap’s Personal Line of Credit: Understanding the Concept of a Credit Line

With the growing push for a ‘cashless economy’ as well as increased reliance on credit cards and other forms of personal credit, the fintech sector in India is booming. Banks and other financial institutions have already jumped on the bandwagon with online and app-based lending, but people looking for an instant loan still have limited options.

To provide for this need, many startups are creating financial products tailor-made for the Indian consumer. Among the first to offer a personal line of credit is MoneyTap, an innovative app that helps loan-seekers in the country access a credit line through their phones anytime and anywhere.

What is a Line of Credit?

The concept of a credit line isn’t too different from personal loans and credit cards. It’s basically a financial arrangement between you and a lending institution, which provides you with a loan that you can access at any time. You can borrow funds up to a maximum limit, and repay them according to the agreement made with the provider.

Like a credit card, repayments will recharge the available limit in credit lines, but interest rates are lower. And, unlike a personal loan, you only pay interest on the amount you use.

What are the Different Types of Credit Lines?

Here’s an overview of various lines of credit and how they work:

  1. Secured Line of Credit – This type of credit line depends upon collateral backing, where you provide an asset as security against the loan amount. If you do not make loan repayments on time, the lender can seize this collateral and liquidate it to recover their debt.

  2. Unsecured Line of Credit – This revolving line of credit doesn’t rely on collateral backing. Financial institutions charge different interest rates for these credit lines. Approval, interest rates and loan limits are usually based on factors such as income, age and CIBIL score.

  3. Personal Line of Credit – This can be either a secured or unsecured credit line that is used for immediate or long-term personal needs, such as weddings, medical expenses, travel and major purchases. You don’t need to disclose what the line of credit will be used for.

  4. Business Line of Credit – This type of credit line can be either secured or unsecured, and is provided to business owners and self-employed individuals for ongoing business expenses. It can help you maintain good cash flow and ensure vendor payments are made on time.

  5. Specific Purpose Line of Credit – This is a line of credit provided for specific purposes, such as home loan repayments, renovations, repairs, etc. Generally, this type of credit line is secured with collateral such as a property and needs to be repaid within a fixed timeframe.


What Are the Features of MoneyTap’s Personal Line of Credit?

MoneyTap, the first app-based personal credit line offered in India, is rather aptly called a ‘Personal Loan 2.0’. Here’s why:

  • It’s super-flexible. You can borrow as little as ₹ 3,000 all the way up to your maximum available limit, of up to ₹ 35 Lakh at any time.

  • It’s quite affordable. You only pay interest on the funds used, not the entire approved amount. No usage, no interest.

  • It’s totally fuss-free. There is no long or complicated approval process, and you don’t need to provide a specific purpose either.

  • It’s virtually no-risk. You can choose a repayment term that works best for you, with no collateral or guarantors involved.

  • It’s always with you. The credit line is available for life, and every repayment recharges the limit available for future use.

  • It’s penalty-free. Making early payments or even paying off the full amount you have used will not incur fees or charges.

  • It’s feature-loaded. Not only do you get instant credit, but also a credit card that offers various rewards and discounts.


It may have been a long time coming, but an app-based line of credit is just what we needed. Quick, incredibly flexible and packed with extra benefits, MoneyTap is the end of your financial worries! Download the MoneyTap app now and get approved in just 4-minutes.

Wishfin Launches Free Credit Score on Whatsapp

Financial marketplace Wishfin has launched a new product, "Whatsapp for Credit Score". Wishfin has integrated with Whatsapp to launch a free credit score on Whatsapp. This is a first of its kind, where Indian users will have access to their credit score on Whatsapp. This is also one of the early adaptations of Whatsapp for Credit monitoring globally.

To get free credit score on Whatsapp, users can just give a missed call at 82 87 151 151. They can also start a Whatsapp chat to check their credit score for free through this link: https://www.wishfin.com/campaign-whatsapp-cibil.

“Human-computer interaction is undergoing dramatic shifts. Voice and chat are becoming important tools of interaction. At Wishfin, our DNA is technology and we are always innovating. We wanted to be at the forefront of this trend, leveraging our cutting edge technology. We believe that Whatsapp is great for engagement with customers. Moreover, by using “Whatsapp for Credit Score” our customers can monitor their credit health at their convenience, very simply by giving us a missed call at 82 87 151 151. Whatsapp already has more than 250 million users in India and now they can access their credit score easily and simply, and in just a few seconds, by doing what they love – Whatsapp-ing!” said Puru Vashishtha, Chairman & MD, Wishfin.com.

Nearly 6 months ago, Wishfin had partnered with Whatsapp on testing its enterprise business solution. Wishfin had launched loan and credit card application on Whatsapp which was a huge success. That has further confirmed Wishfin’s belief that Whatsapp is a great engagement tool for financial products.

A few months ago, Wishfin had also partnered with TransUnion CIBIL to become the first fintech company to offer free CIBIL Credit reports in India. With the earlier success with Whatsapp, Wishfin has quickly innovated and launched this free Credit Score on Whatsapp, that really simplifies the process and offers an unparalleled customer experience of procuring a CIBIL Score and report. Customers will have complete control on the interaction, from starting the application to stopping the interaction, by just typing on Whatsapp.

Earlier known as Deal4Loans, the company rebranded itself to Wishfin in March last year. Wishfin offers financial products such as loans, credit cards etc. Wishfin.com (along with Deal4loans.com) is India’s largest lending marketplace with ~ 12 million customers and its adding half a million customers every month. Wishfin has disbursed more than ~ $3 billion worth of retail loans through its platform. Wishfin is thought leader in financial services and was the first fintech to launch Free CIBIL score in partnership with TransUnion CIBIL. Wishfin.com works with the top 40 Banks, NBFCs and financial institutions of India such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Ltd, SBI Cards, Bajaj Finserve, etc.

Wishfin Launches Free Credit Score on Whatsapp

Financial marketplace Wishfin has launched a new product, "Whatsapp for Credit Score". Wishfin has integrated with Whatsapp to launch a free credit score on Whatsapp. This is a first of its kind, where Indian users will have access to their credit score on Whatsapp. This is also one of the early adaptations of Whatsapp for Credit monitoring globally.

To get free credit score on Whatsapp, users can just give a missed call at 82 87 151 151. They can also start a Whatsapp chat to check their credit score for free through this link: https://www.wishfin.com/campaign-whatsapp-cibil.

“Human-computer interaction is undergoing dramatic shifts. Voice and chat are becoming important tools of interaction. At Wishfin, our DNA is technology and we are always innovating. We wanted to be at the forefront of this trend, leveraging our cutting edge technology. We believe that Whatsapp is great for engagement with customers. Moreover, by using “Whatsapp for Credit Score” our customers can monitor their credit health at their convenience, very simply by giving us a missed call at 82 87 151 151. Whatsapp already has more than 250 million users in India and now they can access their credit score easily and simply, and in just a few seconds, by doing what they love – Whatsapp-ing!” said Puru Vashishtha, Chairman & MD, Wishfin.com.

Nearly 6 months ago, Wishfin had partnered with Whatsapp on testing its enterprise business solution. Wishfin had launched loan and credit card application on Whatsapp which was a huge success. That has further confirmed Wishfin’s belief that Whatsapp is a great engagement tool for financial products.

A few months ago, Wishfin had also partnered with TransUnion CIBIL to become the first fintech company to offer free CIBIL Credit reports in India. With the earlier success with Whatsapp, Wishfin has quickly innovated and launched this free Credit Score on Whatsapp, that really simplifies the process and offers an unparalleled customer experience of procuring a CIBIL Score and report. Customers will have complete control on the interaction, from starting the application to stopping the interaction, by just typing on Whatsapp.

Earlier known as Deal4Loans, the company rebranded itself to Wishfin in March last year. Wishfin offers financial products such as loans, credit cards etc. Wishfin.com (along with Deal4loans.com) is India’s largest lending marketplace with ~ 12 million customers and its adding half a million customers every month. Wishfin has disbursed more than ~ $3 billion worth of retail loans through its platform. Wishfin is thought leader in financial services and was the first fintech to launch Free CIBIL score in partnership with TransUnion CIBIL. Wishfin.com works with the top 40 Banks, NBFCs and financial institutions of India such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Ltd, SBI Cards, Bajaj Finserve, etc.

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