Non-metros fueling BankBazaar’s next phase of growth

Bengaluru: BankBazaar.com, India’s leading financial marketplace is deepening its presence across India with a 63 percent increase in non-metro visitors to the website in FY19 as compared to FY18. Of these, more than 54 percent are new visitors. BankBazaar is present in more than 1300 cities across India. The total increase in visitors in the last financial year, including metros, stood at 35.7 percent.

As more and more first-time internet users log on to buy financial products online, BankBazaar noted a 92 percent year-on-year increase in non-metro visitors from South India. Cities like Mangaluru (271 percent), Kozhikode (259 percent), and Coimbatore (245 percent) showed the highest increase in the number of visitors in South India.

East India showed a 62 percent increase in non-metro visitors followed by North India at 58 percent and West India at 51 percent. Some of the fastest growing cities in these regions are Agartala at 240 percent, Meerut at 244 percent and Surat at 220 percent.

“There is a strong demand for online, instant financial services in smaller towns. Increasing levels of digitization have also made the business model viable for smaller towns and cities. Today, they are outpacing the metros in adopting new-age banking methods and are demanding services that are quick, efficient, and innovative. We believe that BankBazaar with its technology and platform can bridge any gap effectively by bringing the widest range of products tailored for every customer segment”, said Adhil Shetty, Co-founder, and CEO, BankBazaar.

The non-metro market made its presence felt strongly with higher average loan ticket sizes. According to BankBazaar, the average personal loan ticket size in non-metros is Rs 2.8 lakhs, higher than the average ticket size of Rs 2.55 lakhs in the metros. This trend has been seen across products.

The company gives credit to its Paperless platform for this growth. There has been an overall 46 percent year-on-year increase in the number of paperless transactions. In the Personal Loans category alone, there has been a 158 percent increase. As the company steps into its 12th year, with a view to accelerate this growth and support an increasing customer base, BankBazaar has shifted to a bigger office in Ticel Bio Park Phase-2, Taramani, Chennai.

BankBazaar.com hosts the widest range of financial products from over 50 of the biggest public and private sector banks and NBFCs in India. It closed FY19 with 160 million plus unique visitors. The company raised USD 110 million through funding from investors such as Amazon.com, Experian, Fidelity Growth Partners, Mousse Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Walden International.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]