CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Pramod Kathuria, CEO – Easiloan, www.easiloan.com – Home Loan marketplace

What inspired the founding of Easiloan, and how did you recognize the need for a digital home loan marketplace in India?
In today’s world, customers seek transparent, comprehensive information in their preferred medium, empowering them to make informed choices. We observe a high level of democratization and the availability of multiple platforms, both online and offline, for various financial products such as investments (mutual funds, stocks), UPI, credit cards, personal loans, and insurance products. Customers can compare and purchase these with ease. However, when it comes to mortgages, there was no such platform where customers could check information across various options, select the most suitable one, and finalize their choice. This gap could be attributed to factors like regulations, the complexity of the application process, and the documentation involved.

Having worked in the housing finance sector, I understand the landscape and the need for a unified digital platform to address these issues. The idea was further ignited by a personal experience during the pandemic when I was trying to sell a property, and the buyer struggled to complete the home loan process. It became clear that there was no better time to solve this problem than during the pandemic, when the need for a digital alternative was most critical. This realization led me to start Easiloan, aiming to simplify and streamline the home loan process for everyone involved.

How does Easiloan streamline the home loan process and improve the experience for home buyers and lenders through digitization?
Easiloan is a digital marketplace for home loans, designed to address the diverse needs of customer profiles, documentation, and the variety of options offered by banks and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs). We believe that mortgages require a focused and unique approach, and our platform is built to provide just that.

On the supply side, we have established partnerships with over 20 lenders, including both public and private sector banks and HFCs, who offer loans through our platform. On the demand side, we source customer leads from real estate developers, brokers, and digital marketing efforts.

Easiloan platform offers a unified journey for customers, enabling them to compare and choose from options tailored to their profiles and requirements through our AI-based matchmaking loan profiling engine. Customers can submit all necessary documents digitally and receive sanction advice by completing their applications on Easiloan. This streamlined process not only simplifies the home loan journey for buyers but also enhances efficiency and effectiveness for lenders, creating a seamless and improved experience for all parties involved.

How does Easiloan ensure trust and transparency for users throughout the home loan journey, considering the significance of financial investments like purchasing a home?
Easiloan platform offers multiple choices lender and offer options to customers based on customer profile, requirement and fitment. The entire loan application process is transparent and follows a certified process, ensuring that customers are fully informed and in control.

Customers are empowered to compare various aspects such as processing fees, interest rates (ROI), and tenure, allowing them to make informed decisions based on what best meets their needs. Importantly, Easiloan as a platform does not push customers to choose any specific offer. Instead, we provide all the necessary information and tools for them to make the choice that is right for them.

By ensuring that the process is transparent and customer-centric, we build trust and confidence, making the significant financial investment of purchasing a home a more straightforward and reassuring experience.

What challenges did you encounter when expanding Easiloan’s operations in new markets like Pune Bengaluru, and how were they addressed?
Every markets has its own dynamics and ways of doing business. Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and now in this year we are also operating in NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata – each of these markets have a certain approach on how the developers, brokers were referring home loan customers.

In the past, there were limited options, and sourcing was often based on bank arrangements and established relationships. The gap between a digital customer experience and expectations had persisted for a long time across these markets. We found smoother adoption in new markets as our fundamental offerings addressed a common digital gap in the mortgage process.

To overcome the challenges, we focused on nurturing new relationships and demonstrating the value of our offerings. By showcasing the transparency, convenience, and efficiency of our platform, we saw positive acceptance and a smooth transition in each new market. Our ability to cater to the specific needs of different regions while maintaining our core value proposition has been key to our successful expansion.

In what ways does Easiloan leverage AI and ML technologies to enhance its services and offerings for customers?
Easiloan leverages AI and ML technologies to significantly enhance its services and offerings, providing a seamless and personalized experience for customers.

Our AI-powered algorithms analyse customer data, demographics, requirements, and income to create detailed and personalized profiles. This segmentation allows us to offer targeted loan options, improving the overall customer experience. The machine learning (ML) algorithms work on a sophisticated matchmaking engine that considers bank preferences, logic, and available data. This engine efficiently matches customers with the most suitable loan offers, streamlining the loan selection process and ensuring that customers receive options tailored to their specific needs.

Through these advanced technologies, Easiloan not only simplifies the home loan process but also ensures that customers receive the most relevant and beneficial options, enhancing their overall experience.

Could you provide insights into Easiloan’s credit engine criteria for evaluating home loan applications, its differences from traditional methods, and the advantages it offers to potential home buyers?
Easiloan Credit engine is based on algorithms that are build on Bank credit guidelines factoring in various aspects of customer – age, income, obligation, profession, bureau scores and nature of property. It has the depth of understanding various components and can be personalised for banks, products or customer profile. There are several advantages for customers and banks. For customers – Easiloan platform allows instant onboarding digitally with a sanction advice confirming the eligibility. The customer can submit documentation digitally from the comfort of their home thus offering both convenience and comfort. For the Banks all customer applications are shared digitally and hence taking away risk of document misplaced, human error and slippage of tur around time (TAT). Hence the customer is able to get best option of choice conveniently and in much shorter time with lesser effort.

How do you plan to utilize the funding from Tomorrow Capital and Housing.com to expand Easiloan’s presence in other Indian cities, and what milestones do you aim to achieve shortly?
We are looking at utilising these funds in three ways – Expansion into New Markets – We aim to establish our presence in new and promising mortgage markets across India. This involves setting up operations in additional cities with high growth potential, allowing us to reach a broader customer base and offer our services to more home buyers. Enhancing Sourcing and Servicing Channels – We will add new sourcing and servicing channels for both primary and secondary market home buyers. This includes building partnerships with real estate developers, brokers, and retail customer channels in all these markets. Building Technology and CRM – We are investing in advanced technology and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to better serve our customers across new markets and channels. This will enhance our ability to manage customer relationships efficiently, offer personalized services, and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction.

Collaboration with top banks and housing finance companies is crucial. How does Easiloan maintain these partnerships, and what benefits do they bring to both Easiloan and its users?
Collaboration with top banks and housing finance companies is essential for providing meaningful service to our loan prospects. Easiloan has established partnerships with over 20 banks and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs), which are regularly reviewed to ensure the highest standards of service. We maintain these partnerships with regular Reviews and Process Building, Product Trainings and Development, Digital Integration and automation, Continuous Engagement. These collaborative efforts benefit Easiloan users with Enhanced Customer Experience, Improved Efficiency and turnaround times (TAT), minimization of the risk of errors, making the loan application process quicker and more reliable. Additionally, it offers Business Growth with reach to a larger customer base and offer more competitive loan products and better service.