Digital wedding loans skyrocket as Indians rush to get married

By Leandra Monteiro

With restrictions easing and the fear of contamination receding, mass gatherings are resurfacing. COVID-19 has even changed the borrowing and investing landscape in the country. Aside from medical, home, and education loans, there has been an unanticipated spike in demand for wedding and travel loans, particularly during the ongoing quarter. According to a survey conducted by a digital lending company, wedding loans accounted for more than 35%, the highest, among other purpose loans.

Rohit Garg, CEO and Co-founder, SmartCoin shared, “There are almost 20,000 Indian weddings per year and many of these take place between October and December. The wedding season is in full swing now, attributed to the rapid vaccination and cancellations of the weddings earlier this year. We at Smartcoin witnessed an almost 30% jump in loan demand for wedding purposes in Oct- Nov. As people spend more on Gold, make expensive shopping and do other wedding heavy expenditure, overspending than the set budget cannot be negated. We have seen people take loans during these months. Also, the New age couples are equally taking loans for honeymoon travel to avoid spending their savings.”

According to data analysed by LenDenClub, demand for wedding loans has drastically increased by 40% in 2021 from 2020. The number of loan applications received increased from 900 thousand in 2020 versus 1100 thousand in 2021. The second wave has seen a more significant number of Tier 1 loan applicants than the first wave. During the first and second waves of the pandemic, LenDenClub received about 68% of loan applications from Tier-2 cities. The average ticket size for a wedding loan is around INR 15,000. For travel loans it is around INR 14,000.

Bhavin Patel, Co-founder & CEO, LenDenClub said, “Weddings involve a lot of extensive planning and include lots of petty expenses under Rs. 20K. Our P2P lending platform offers quick loans up to Rs. 15,000 to fulfil small expenditures in the wedding such as online shopping, purchasing gadgets, electronics etc. Our speedy loan disbursals with flexible loan tenure make it easy for our borrowers to take out loans for wedding purposes, allowing them to relax and enjoy the celebrations. With the economy opening up and relaxation in lockdowns, we at LenDenClub witnessed a surge of 40% in the ongoing ceremonial period. We expect the demand to continue till the end of the wedding season.”

As per Indian FinTech, CASHe the pre, during, and post COVID period witnessed the percentage contribution of demand for wedding & travel loans from millennials going up by as much 30% during the pandemic as Covid-19 affected weddings the most. It is also interesting to see that demand for loans with the purpose of marriage was reduced during the early months of the pandemic but within a few months, demand has shot up, significantly breaching pre-pandemic levels.

Yashoraj Tyagi, CTO of CASHE shared,  “To ensure that one has a great wedding, it is essential to make detailed notes of the expenses in advance. Estimating everything in advance can be very helpful.

However, no matter how well you plan everything, you end up with some last-minute expenses. A quicker alternative to avoid expense-related stress is to opt for digital loans. This way, you can focus on the only thing that matters to you – having a fun, memorable wedding!

We at CASHe, have witnessed that the percentage contribution of demand for wedding loans from millennials had gone up by 30% post-pandemic as the Covid-19 pandemic affected weddings the most, breaching Pre-covid levels. An instant personal loan helps you manage the marriage without the pressure of financial shortfall as it comes with a loan limit of Rs. 3 lakh and flexible repayment tenure of 12 months. Loan approvals at CASHe area matter from a few seconds to a few minutes, and your money will be in your account in no time with minimal documentation. We also have a credit line facility that makes funds available at your disbursal in the quickest possible time. With this facility, you exercise complete control over your expenses and withdraw money as & when you need it. Thus, you are required to pay interest only on the borrowed amount. Therefore, the credit line facility can make your wedding loan cost-efficient.”

ALSO READ: Digital Lending Landscape in India Report 2021