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    Faircent starts investor education initiative, to launch mobile app

    Synopsis

    The conference was attended by a large number of existing and prospective lenders who have been either lending or are looking at lending on the marketplace.

    ET Bureau
    As peer-to-peer (P2P) lending gains popularity in the country, leading P2P marketplace Faircent.com says it is embarking on a mission to educate and inform lenders about the nitty gritties of operating on the platform, even as it looks to launch a mobile app to connect lenders and borrowers.

    Faircent says it does recognize the fact that crowdfunding is at a very nascent stage in India and it is imperative that there are strong measures to ensure protection of the lenders. With this in mind the company says it is rolling out lenders conference, with the first one being held in New Delhi on Saturday.

    The conference was attended by a large number of existing and prospective lenders who have been either lending or are looking at lending on the marketplace. Headquartered out of Gurgaon, Faircent.com started operations in India in July 2014 and caters to retail and business loans.

    Peer-to-peer mending has been making news lately for its unique business model as it directly connects individual lenders and borrowers, thereby increasing returns for lenders and reducing interest rates for borrowers. Faircent's model removes the banks from the system, thus passing on the spread banks earn to lenders and borrowers.

    The lenders were educated on smart lending, how to build a portfolio of repaying borrowers and the tax liabilities. "Every lender would need to report his income while filing his or her taxes, but there is no TDS that can be deducted, says Founder CEO of the company, Rajat Gandhi.

    Lenders from cities like Bengaluru, Baroda and Kolkatta were a part of the conference and were upbeat about the potential of a peer-to-peer lending business in India. "I have been lending on the platform and it has been giving me returns which are comparable to any other asset class be it mutual funds or stocks," said Bengaluru- based lender Vishal Asrani.

    The company also announced that it will soon roll out the mobile app, which would enable lenders to invest 24x7 so that they do not miss out on any opportunity. "Our objective is that any borrower who registers on Faircent should be funded in minutes," said Gandhi.

    Faircent plans to take the lender conference across India, with the next set of conferences scheduled for Bengaluru and Mumbai. Faircent, Founder COO, Vinay Mathews said "we are building a marketplace based on technology, transparency and trust. We are committed to educating and ensuring great returns for our lenders."
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    The Economic Times

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