Xiaomi, the leading Chinese smartphone company, has announced the launching of its first lending product in India similar to the Mi Credit, a microlending product it already offers in China.
The credit product, which was launched in collaboration with lending platform KrazyBee, is already available and will be officially announced in the coming few weeks, according to someone close to the matter.
The credit product will be called CreditBee, and will offer loans starting from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh for a duration of 90 days, according to the above-mentioned person. The initiative is set to target salaried professionals and will be provided for an interest rate of 3% per month. The individual cited above was quoted saying, “Xiaomi has lending products across segments in China, and it will look to replicate some of them here as well,” shared an executive of an alternative lending company who requested anonymity.
The Indian operations of Xiaomi has finally turned profitable last year, three years after beginning operations in India, recording sales worth Rs 8,379 crore. The Chinese major already owns stakes in the lending platform KrazyBee, having invested in the firm last year. Shunwei Capital, the venture capital firm of Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s founder led a $8 million funding round in KrazyBee.
Additionally, the smartphone and electronics maker is also looking forward to make its second investment in the Indian fintech landscape with Zest-Money. The NBFC licensed startup is set to receive up to $20 million from Xiaomi and existing investors in the coming weeks. ZestMoney and Xiaomi are already collaborating together since EMI options offered by the smartphone maker are provided by the fintech startup.
Last month, Raghu Reddy, head of online sales at Xiaomi stated that the company was willing to invest in companies that could satisfy the ambitions of the Chinese smartphone company in driving sales and enhancing user experience. Industry experts agreed that Xiaomi’s investment in ZestMoney and KrazyBee was motivated by the company’s motives to push sales on Mi.com by providing customers with affordable payment options.
According to a CounterPoint Research, Mi.com already has a market share of 10% in the online smartphone market, trailing market leaders Flipkart and Amazon.