[ad_1]
Jio Financial Services, the financial services firm backed by Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, has launched its loan and insurance business and plans to rapidly expand its offerings as billionaire Mukesh Ambani looks to expand the scope of his oil-to-telecom empire. Are expanding.
The market has been paying close attention to Reliance’s financial services ambitions for years. But it was not until last year that Ambani, Asia’s richest man, revealed that the company was planning to enter the sector, which though has grown manifold in the last decade, is still largely untapped. Is, serving only lakhs of persons.
Jio Financial Services, which made its public debut in August, said in its annual presentation that it has started offering personal loans to salaried and self-employed individuals through its MyJio app and 300 stores across India. The company said its insurance arm has partnered with 24 insurers to offer comprehensive coverage across auto, health and corporate categories.
Various branches of Jio Financial Services. (Image: JFS)
Jio Financial Services has remained largely silent about what it plans to do. The company, whose biggest backer is Reliance Industries, had earlier this year partnered with US asset manager BlackRock to launch asset management services in the country.
Financial services is the newest sector for Ambani, who has entered and built a number of businesses, including telecom, into a strong position in the last decade. Reliance also operates the country’s largest retail chain, which was valued at $100 billion in a recent fund raised from investors including KKR.
As Jio Financial grows its business, it could pose a challenge to many players in the industry, including Paytm and Policybazaar. Reliance said it will use AI and analytics for its financial services business and work towards “lower cost of servicing”.
Jio Financial Services said it is adopting a direct-to-customer approach with its offerings to increase cost efficiency and enable personal customer interaction. The company is incorporating “360-degree customer views and alternative data models for customized offerings” and developing an integrated app for “customers’ diverse financial needs.”
In the annual report, Jio Financial Services said it is also testing a Sound Box, an increasingly ubiquitous portable device that alerts traders when a transaction is completed, the firm confirmed an August TechCrunch report. Hui said. The company is “generating substantial data footprint and enhancing our customer engagement across digital channels, and in turn enriching and facilitating other businesses,” it said.
In terms of lending, Jio Financial Services plans to offer loans to businesses and merchants as well as loans to facilitate vehicle and home purchases. It also plans to offer loans using shares as collateral. The firm said it has also “relaunched” savings account service and bill payments and plans to launch a debit card.
