BharatPe introduces new investment platform for merchants

By Leandra Monteiro

BharatPe, one of India’s fastest-growing FinTech companies, announced the launch of an Investment Platform for its merchant partners. This platform will enable RBI-regulated entities to market their investment products to the 8 million+ BharatPe merchants across the country.

In the first phase, the company is going live with P2P investments and Bank deposit products with its partners on the platform. Currently, the P2P investment product is being powered via RBI regulated NBFCs- LenDenClub and Liquiloans. BharatPe is also working on providing its merchants an option to invest in Fixed Deposits by Unity Small Finance Bank. Based on the success of the pilot, BharatPe now aims to facilitate investments for 20+ lac merchant partners over the next 12 months via this platform.

BharatPe merchants would be able to access the ‘Investment Platform’ on the BharatPe app by clicking on the ‘Investments’ tab. The investment offerings by LenDenClub and Liquiloans will allow the merchants to register as a lender with the P2P platforms and deploy their money against loans on these platforms. With the P2P lending product, merchants will have an option to earn interest of up to 12% per annum in the first phase; and around 8% on the Fixed deposit product. BharatPe intends to further diversify the offerings on the Investment Platform and offer a range of investment products under a single window, including mutual funds, ETFs, etc., in the coming months.

Speaking on the launch, Suhail Sameer, CEO, BharatPe said, “Over the last 2+ years, we have received an overwhelming response to the P2P lending product being offered in partnership with RBI regulated P2P NBFCs. With the launch of the Investment Platform, we intend to give our merchants a plethora of investment options to choose from. We believe that it should be the merchant who should have the power to decide which investment product and which partner he/she would like to invest with. With the Unity Small Finance Bank now operational, we are also looking forward to adding a range of investment products offered by banks, to our merchants. “

Suhail added, “We are bullish about this category and are confident that this product will add tremendous value to our merchant partners. To make this a success, we will be adding a range of partners across investment categories in the coming months. We are committed to provide best-in-class, simple and secured investment experience to our merchant partners, across traditional and new-age investment products. My aim is to make BharatPe’s Investment Platform the most sought-after investment vehicle for millions of offline retailers in the country.”