fintech players ondc onboarding: Fintech players in various stages of onboarding: ONDC’s Koshy

Fintech players such as Aditya Birla Finance, Karnataka Bank, Tata Capital, Canara Bank and Bajaj Finserv are in various stages of integration with the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), its chief executive T Koshy told ET.
ONDC had published specifications and protocols for players in the financial sector (for credit, insurance and mutual funds) to onboard onto the network as buyer and seller network participants in November last year.

Entities wanting to offer credit and help borrowers would act as buyer network participants and seller network participants. Some early adopters with three lenders and four buyer applications formed part of a pilot which was used to test the platform.

“This was to provide small loans to individuals or proprietary concerns. On the lender side, the participant was DMI Finance, and on the buyer side Easypay, who completed a few real transactions in which borrowers put in requests and the lender was able to evaluate the details and sanction the loan,” said Koshy.

Now, these entities are required to refine and scale up, he said, adding, “The building blocks must be fine-tuned so that operations can be efficient and get more people to participate. Now we will go through these transactions to fine-tune the process, and then start scaling up.”

In the meantime, many other enterprises have also started their integration. “One can see more transactions by mid or end of February,” he said.

The buyer apps of the first cohort with seven participants include Easypay, PayNearby, Rapidor and Tata Digital, and the lenders DMI Finance, Aditya Birla and Karnataka Bank. “Out of these, DMI Finance and Easypay did the first set of transactions,” said Koshy. “Now, many of these participants will complete their integration with the network. Initially, it was limited to known consumers. Now they will promote to larger clients. This will happen in the next couple of weeks. The transactions are happening smoothly.”Insurance

There is a cohort with six participants working in insurance too – Insurance Dekho, Policy Bazaar and Clinic 360 on the buyer side, and Bajaj Allianz, Aditya Birla Health and Kotak General on the seller side – but they are getting ready to do the first trial transactions starting with motor, health and marine insurance. This will take five to eight weeks to take off, Koshy said.

Mutual Funds

ONDC had also published specifications for mutual funds for small investments. A small cohort of four participants is working on it. “Real transactions will start scaling by April. In the next financial year, there will be active promotion of these services by various players,” Koshy said.

Fintech players such as Aditya Birla Finance, Karnataka Bank, Tata Capital, Canara Bank and Bajaj Finserv are in various stages of integration with the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), its chief executive T Koshy told ET.
ONDC had published specifications and protocols for players in the financial sector (for credit, insurance and mutual funds) to onboard onto the network as buyer and seller network participants in November last year.

Entities wanting to offer credit and help borrowers would act as buyer network participants and seller network participants. Some early adopters with three lenders and four buyer applications formed part of a pilot which was used to test the platform.

“This was to provide small loans to individuals or proprietary concerns. On the lender side, the participant was DMI Finance, and on the buyer side Easypay, who completed a few real transactions in which borrowers put in requests and the lender was able to evaluate the details and sanction the loan,” said Koshy.

Now, these entities are required to refine and scale up, he said, adding, “The building blocks must be fine-tuned so that operations can be efficient and get more people to participate. Now we will go through these transactions to fine-tune the process, and then start scaling up.”

In the meantime, many other enterprises have also started their integration. “One can see more transactions by mid or end of February,” he said.

The buyer apps of the first cohort with seven participants include Easypay, PayNearby, Rapidor and Tata Digital, and the lenders DMI Finance, Aditya Birla and Karnataka Bank. “Out of these, DMI Finance and Easypay did the first set of transactions,” said Koshy. “Now, many of these participants will complete their integration with the network. Initially, it was limited to known consumers. Now they will promote to larger clients. This will happen in the next couple of weeks. The transactions are happening smoothly.”Insurance

There is a cohort with six participants working in insurance too – Insurance Dekho, Policy Bazaar and Clinic 360 on the buyer side, and Bajaj Allianz, Aditya Birla Health and Kotak General on the seller side – but they are getting ready to do the first trial transactions starting with motor, health and marine insurance. This will take five to eight weeks to take off, Koshy said.

Mutual Funds

ONDC had also published specifications for mutual funds for small investments. A small cohort of four participants is working on it. “Real transactions will start scaling by April. In the next financial year, there will be active promotion of these services by various players,” Koshy said.