ICICI Bank on December 7 announced that it has partnered with Flipkart to offer an instant and completely digital overdraft (OD) facility of up to Rs. 25 lakh to individual sellers and businesses registered on the e-commerce platform.
The tie-up is enabled by API integration wherein sellers can avail an OD from the bank instantly in a process-from application to sanction to disbursement, entirely done digitally. Customer’s of any bank can avail of ODs from ICICI Bank if they are registered as sellers with Flipkart.
The bank will leverage data analytics to evaluate the credit worthiness of sellers instantly as the new credit assessment method does away with the traditional process that involves examining paper-intensive bank statements and income tax returns. It further enables sellers who are new-to-credit as well as existing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) borrowers to unlock value of their digital transactions and get access to instant credit.
Pankaj Gadgil, Head – Self Employed Segment, SME & Merchant Ecosystem, ICICI Bank said, “With this partnership, sellers registered with Flipkart can avail instant OD of up to Rs. 25 lakh, in a completely digital manner and start using it immediately. The quick processing of the OD facility has been made possible by a specially developed scorecard for credit assessment of the sellers.”
Gadgil added, “This new and improved process helps individual sellers and businesses who may otherwise not get access to adequate credit when assessed in the traditional way of using only balance sheets, bank statements and tax returns. We believe that this new proposition resonates with our effort in developing path-breaking innovations for MSME customers and will empower them with new avenues of business expansion.”
Dheeraj Aneja, Senior Vice President – Fintech and Payments Group, Flipkart said, “As sellers and MSME partners from across the country continue to put their trust in Flipkart marketplace, we want to ensure that our efforts to enable their business growth entails financial support as well.
Aneja said, “Flipkart has been working towards the financial independence of its sellers through its dedicated program – Growth Capital and continues to evolve it based on market requirements. The introduction of a digital process to avail an OD, in partnership with ICICI Bank, is another step in the direction of providing the necessary support that can help fulfill the ambitions and aspirations of our sellers.”
