Snapdeal offers Rs 1,000 cr collateral-free loans for sellers

Mumbai: Online marketplace Snapdeal has announced collateral-free loans worth Rs 1,000 crore for its sellers ahead of the festive season to enable them to stock up adequately.

The loans would be disbursed through its ongoing programme -- Capital Assist -- which is now managed by FreeCharge and is available to all sellers and merchants on Snapdeal, Shopo and FreeCharge, Snapdeal said in a statement here.

"The festive season provides an opportunity to our sellers to grow their businesses many times over, with the sharp increase in demand. Through Capital Assist, we have made the funding process frictionless and expect more than Rs 1,000 crore disbursal to Snapdeal sellers ahead of this Diwali season," Vishal Chadha, the Senior Vice President (Market Development) of Snapdeal, said.

Snapdeal's Capital Assist Initiative has been helping sellers raise funds without collaterals or lengthy documentation, providing a platform to get direct market access and tap wider financing opportunities.

The marketplace has co-evolved a scoring process with partner banks and NBFCs to provide credit rating to its sellers, it said, which enables instant decision on loan applications and quick disbursal.

Currently, the Capital Assist Initiative has partnered with 27 banks and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Tata Capital, Reliance Capital, L&T Finance, Hero Fincorp, Aditya Birla Finance, Lending Kart and Capital Float, among others, to facilitate these loans.

Till now, loans worth Rs 450 crore have been disbursed to more than 2,200 small and medium-sized enterprises, Snapdeal said.