Flipkart plans credit card launch

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Apr 30, 2019

The e-commerce platform Flipkart plans to launch credit card services later in the year and it will be able to bring in new consumers who do not yet have a formal credit history by using its own shoppers’ data. 

Flipkart plans to launch a credit card in partnership with either Axis Bank or HDFC Bank and launch it later in the year, an anonymous company official told ET Bureau. The credit card service will be able to use data from Flipkart customers’ shopping history on the site instead of a previous credit history. This will allow more people to access the credit services compared to normal credit cards and will allow Flipkart reach an untapped market.

“These data points may be shared with banks for better credit scoring,” said the anonymous executive source. 

The business had already launched “buy now pay later” services online in 2018, according to a company blogpost on its official website. The post likened the service to how shoppers take goods from local Kirana stores and pay their tab at their convenience therefore appealing to a more rural market.

Flipkart may be a late comer to the credit industry but it will have the advantage of comprehensive data on its customers’ spending habits from the beginning. ET Bureau’s source stated that the business is currently tracking between 500 and 1,000 data points to discern both a customer’s ability and intent to repay loans.