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The on-line gold loan remains the preferred choice for businesses and individuals even after nonbanking finance companies reopened their branches. With increased adoption of smartphones and expanding internet connectivity in rural and semi-urban India, NBFCs are aiming to get most of their customers on to the online gold loan platform.
Some plan to launch co-branded prepaid cards while others are developing a semi-automated gold loan kiosk to expand the business.
“The share of the online gold loan (OGL) in our total gold loan business before the lockdown was about 45% and this has now gone up to over 62%,” VP Nandakumar, managing director of Manappuram Finance, told ET. “Clearly, the lockdown period was when many of our customers realised the benefits of OGL as they were able to operate their account and borrow higher amounts, even as our branches remained closed. Even after reopening the branches, we continue to see increased adoption of OGL.”
Manappuram has rolled out doorstep gold loans throughout India to extend its OGL footprint, Nandakumar added.