SMEcorner, a modern age financial services firm for providing credit products to retail/SME sector, opens its branches in Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot

Digikredit Finance Pvt. Ltd., a NBFC which owns and operates under the name SMEcorner,today announced the opening of its branches in Gujarat. SMEcorner focuses on providing quick access to secured and unsecured loans to Indian MSMEs and provides both online and offline process option to a borrower.By opening its branches in Gujarat, it hopes to reduce the uncertainty of getting credit for the tens of thousands of shops in the state of Gujarat.

Said Samir Bhatia, Founder and CEO, SMEcorner,

“In my three decades of experience as a banker, I have always felt that the growth of small shops and SME sector gets restricted because they find it difficult to get loan on time. By using technology to process the loan and a flexible approach towards documentation, we hope to be the first choice for credit products for the sector.After Maharashtra, we are expanding in Gujarat; as a Gujarati, this is my way of connecting back to the community.”

As on date, SMEcorner provides Unsecured loans upto Rs 30 lakhs and Loan against property upto Rs 1 crore. Over 50% of its loans disbursed by it is in the range of INR 50,000 to INR 5 lakh. SMEcorner is expanding in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Surat where it would be majorly targeting small business owners from various industries for business loans.

An interested borrower can choose to fill the form online or choose to have a representative visit them to help them fill a small online form on a smartphone. The technology back end combines machine learning, data science and artificial intelligence to take a credit call. Basis the information provided SMEcorner informs an applicant within 5 mins on whether they qualify for the loan or not.

Once the eligibility has been established, SMEcorner also insists on having a small meeting with the borrower before taking the credit decision. The team believes that a personal connect not only helps them guide the borrower about the right amount of loan but also ensures lower default rates in the long term.

Said Samir,

“We begin with the premise that all retailers are honest and for them their reputation within their geographical area is far more important than the loan we can provide them. A personal connect helps us in cementing our relationship which helps in not just repeat business but also lower defaults.”

The actual disbursement process takes a maximum of 3 working days. SMEcorner disburses from its own books and has tie-ups with three financial institutions, who have synced the backend with SMEcorner which ensures once the loan application is approved by SMEcorner, the disbursement is seamless.

In the next three years, SMEcorner intends to have branches across 35 locations in 8 states and build a book size of INR 5000 crores.

About Samir Bhatia:

Samir Bhatia is the Founder and CEO of SMEcorner, a modern age lending company aimed at providing easy and quick access to MSME.
Samir has over 30 years of experience in the Banking and Finance sector. Before starting SMEcorner, Samir was the Managing Director and CEO of Equifax Credit Information Services and was instrumental in setting up the business from scratch. Samir has worked with Barclays Bank as Managing Director, Retail Banking (India and Indian Ocean). He has also worked with HDFC Bank for over 12 years and had played a crucial role in setting up the Bank. He is considered one of the founding members of HDFC Bank.
Samir is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and ranked 7th in India in his CA final exams. On the personal front, he is a committed Marathon Runner with many full marathons.