Flipkart to Distribute Axis Bank Personal Loans of Up to Rs. 5 Lakh Amid RBI Concerns on Unsecured Lending

Walmart-owned Flipkart on Friday announced that it will be distributing Axis Bank's personal loans on the e-commerce platform.

The platform, which has 450 million customers, will be distributing loans of up to Rs 5 lakh which can be repaid in up to three years, it said in a statement.

The announcement comes amid reports of RBI's concerns on the high growth in the more riskier unsecured lending segment like personal loans and credit cards.

“As Indian consumers continue to evolve, an increasing aspiration exists to enhance their lifestyles,” the Flipkart statement said.

The facility in tie-up with the third largest private sector lender will empower customers with increased purchasing power, it added.

Flipkart's senior vice president for fintech and payments group, Dheeraj Aneja said the e-commerce platform already offers financing avenues like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Equated Monthly Installments (EMI), and Co-branded Credit Cards to support buyers.

“Our focus is to enable credit and enhance purchasing power by granting access to liquidity precisely when needed. These financial solutions cater to the evolving demands of consumers, offering greater flexibility and convenience throughout their purchasing journeys,” Aneja added.

Axis Bank's president and head of digital business and transformation, Sameer Shetty, said the bank will be able to offer lending to a wider spectrum of customers through the partnership.

Customers will be able to get loan approvals in 30 seconds under the partnership, the statement said.

E-commerce giants like Flipkart and Amazon came under the government's scanner last month when center took a serious note of 'dark patterns' and asked e-commerce firms to create a self-regulatory framework to stop such practices.

Dark patterns refer to practices that deliberately exploit the consumers on the internet, like adding items to a shopping cart even though a user has not opted for it, changing the price of a product at the time of checking out or even creating a false sense of urgency to advance a buying decision.