Deepak Kumar takes his job managing a guest house in Bengaluru seriously, keeping a close eye on the grounds and making sure every aspect is well-maintained. He rents a house nearby where he lives with his wife and their three-year-old child. He loves that working at the inn keeps him close to his family and allows him to take care of them.
When he’s not working at the guest house, Deepak sometimes drives a cab to bring in extra money to support his family. When he needed money to help with fuel costs and other expenses, he went to a bank for a loan. But the bank told him that it would be a 6-month wait for him to access the funds he needed.
Deepak writes in a notebook while at his job managing a guest house
Then he found Accion portfolio partner SmartCoin. SmartCoin uses a mobile app to provide easy access to financial services. Using an alternative credit assessment aided by data science and machine learning, they’re able to evaluate applications and disperse funds quickly. With clear payment amounts, timelines, and reminders, the platform is designed to nudge customers towards prudent borrowing and help them understand financial products better.
Instead of six months, Deepak’s wait time was reduced to a few hours, and he can track his repayment on his phone. He now has everything he needs to keep his cab — and his life — running smoothly.