Tell us something about yourself and what does LenDenClub do?

I am a financial engineer who is always hunting for an opportunity to improve in delivery of financial services in the country. I co-founded LenDenClub, along with Dipesh, to deliver prompt loans to deserving borrowers. LenDenClub is a rapidly growing P2P lending platform in India which connects investors or lenders who are actively looking for high returns from creditworthy borrowers. Our platform efficiently brings together lenders & verified borrowers. It offers the required lending processes and systematic verification of borrowers that ultimately help lenders get better returns on their investments in a transparent & trustworthy manner.

How Big Data and Artificial Intelligence are changing Online Lending?

Digitization is swiftly growing and companies are now looking for ways to modify their digital lending services that would be profitable and effective for both borrowers and lenders. Today, Artificial Intelligence & Big Data are believe to be the future powerhouse of lending. In next 10 years, we will witness the whole change in the lending processes, which will be fully based on data. One of the biggest uses of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence is for evaluation of customer’s overall credit health, identification of their behavioral pattern and to mitigate the risks that come with this type of lending.

How tech-enabled alternative lending is bridging the gaps in credit systems?

Traditionally, huge number of people are left without credit because of unavailability of assessable data points. However, when we talk about alternate data points, it is possible to find these data points for many of them. It helps assess them based on alternate data points. It helps reducing credit gaps in the system.

How will new technology improve the loan process?

Use of technology has revamped the business lending market – thus bringing the much needed speed and efficiency to an industry which is known for being exact opposite in nature. By incorporating latest technology, many of the financial institutions are making regular interactions with their customers absolutely seamless. Particularly, cloud & automation has helped in reshaping loan processes and bringing in better efficiency to the process end-to-end. It’s exciting to see lenders and banks finally starting to embrace new-age technology to move the industry forward in a safe and sustainable way.

Can blockchain and related technologies solve India’s huge lending gaps?

Yes, it will definitely solve it. However, it may take some time before it starts giving fruits. One of the biggest problem of Indian lenders is an identity. If different trustworthy institutions are there in blockchain to confirm identity of the user, it will open a whole new chapter in the Indian lending institutions. This will practically be the situation that each person can be identified by either of the black chain participants. This will be the game changer. I don’t see a long future before reaching there.

How blockchain technology will transform P2P lending?

The P2P Global lending market is forecasted to reach $1 trillion mark and by leveraging blockchain technology, it will only increase it’s value by opening up newer markets, cutting costs and increasing efficiency. Well, blockchain is no more a ‘fad’, as we say, but it is on the way to become a leading factor for the growth of P2P industry. However, blockchain is one of the most slowly accepted technologies despite it’s fast transformation and emergency in today’s day. I that as it involves participation from government agencies and big financial institutions. Use of blockchain by P2P lenders will expand the lending market by increasing data transparency, easy user identification, aggregating customer accounts and most importantly, mitigating costs of operations. Thus, P2P platforms adapting blockchain technology will be at an advantage.

Credit: INCUBATEIND.com