new delhi,aug 22
Facebook India on Friday announced a programme to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) that advertise on Facebook to get quick access to credit of between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh through independent lending partners.“India is the first Facebook country where this programme is getting rolled out. The programme is open to businesses registered across 200 towns and cities of India,” Facebook said. Through Facebook’s partnership with Indifi, small businesses that advertise with Facebook can get loans at a predefined interest rate of 17-20 per cent per annum, it said. “The programme will also enable small businesses to apply for loans without collateral through a quick online application. Small businesses applying under this programme will not be charged a processing fee by Indifi.”Indifi will also disburse the loan amount within five working days of the borrower completing all documentation formalities after acceptance of the offer by Indifi. Many small businesses face challenges in securing loans of lower ticket-size as they are not viable for many lenders. “The goal of the initiative is to make business loans more easily accessible to small businesses, and reduce the credit gap within India’s MSME sector,” Facebook said.It added that small businesses wholly or partly women-owned can get a special 0.2 per cent reduction per annum on the applied loan interest rate from Indifi.Indifi is an online lending platform providing loans to small businesses. Alok Mittal, who last led India operations of US venture capital firm Canaan Partners, is Indifi’s MD & CEO and co-founder.Facebook said, “The programme is a completely not-for-profit arrangement with Facebook’s lending partners and small businesses are not obligated to spend their loan amount on Facebook advertising,” The announcement came at a virtual event on ‘Enabling MSME growth through financial inclusion’, hosted by Facebook India along with FICCI. Ajit Mohan, VP & MD Facebook India, said at the event, “Facebook is deeply committed to creating economic opportunities for India’s small businesses. Access to timely capital is more important than ever as it can help jump-start their recovery and drive big growth. ”Uday Shankar, President, FICCI said, “FICCI has always advocated for stronger private sector participation for the growth of India’s MSMEs and welcomes the launch of Facebook’s small business loans initiative to make access to credit more easily available to the industry.
