BankBazaar.com

Banking Online

After several years in the US, the urge to return home struck Arjun Shetty and his wife, Rati Rajkumar. Having decided to set up home in Chennai, in the early part of 2007, Arjun went shopping for a home loan. He found it really hard to get a good deal and had to go from bank to bank during their working hours, stand in line and fill reams of forms to even get a quote. "Once I got the quotes, I still found it hard to compare as banks quoted interest rates in different ways and they never spelled out the various fees associated with a home loan," says Arjun.

Additionally he learnt that banks didn’t usually start-off offering the best rate that he was eligible for. They’d usually try and charge a higher rate, and he had to bargain hard to get them to lower their rates. At the end of a week, despite wasting a lot of time researching loans, being a good bargainer and being reasonably knowledgeable about finance, he still wasn’t convinced that he was getting the best deal on the home loan.

"Many people I spoke to had similar experiences. Rati and I brainstormed on whether we could make this process significantly more convenient, and became convinced that it was possible," realised Arjun. He had worked at Amazon.com in Seattle and managed the Amazon.com Visa Card program. His brother Adhil was then working for Deloitte Consulting in New York. A convincing call from Arjun set Adhil's brain ticking and the next thing he did was to arrive in Chennai and plan a startup venture BankBazaar.com. Adhil's background of a Bachelor degree in Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University coupled with a Masters degree in International Relations with a specialisation in International Finance and Business from Columbia U had stood him in good stead while managing Deloitte Touche Tomahatsu's US East alliances; this came in handy when forming the start-up venture. "The idea was to start a dotcom company as a one-stop shopping solution for any kind of financial loans. BankBazaar.com was launched as the world's first online real-time loan disbursal platform for one-stop end-to-end solutions," says Adhil.

BankBazaar.com is the world's first neutral online marketplace that gives you instant customized rate quotes on loans and insurance products. You can instantly search for, compare and apply for loans, credit cards and insurance products on their site. Since they partner with India's leading financial institutions and insurance firms, you have to look in only one place to get a great deal.

"Our goal is to make it easy for everyone to get a great deal on a loan or an insurance product. On BankBazaar.com, you can easily compare the total costs of the loan offers made to you, and get access to unbiased customers' ratings of financial institutions. We want to make it easy for a person to have a lot of options, to take a well-informed decision when choosing which product to apply for and to do all this instantly! And best of all, BankBazaar.com's services are completely free," explains Adhil. The revenue comes in from the commission paid to them by banks after a loan has been sanctioned and disbursed. The client does not get charged for these services.

"The most fun thing about BankBazaar.com is that we work with extremely intelligent, passionate people who’ve excelled in their careers, but chose to take a leap of faith and join us because they believe in our vision. As we decided early on that we needed our team to comprise of the very best, the most difficult thing for us has been building our team as few people meet our bar. We’ve been successful at attracting some phenomenal people because we are truly passionate about what we do and because we dream big. My team comprises of people who worked for companies like Deloitte Consulting, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Trilogy, Kraft Foods and Capital One, that are considered amongst the best in the world," informs Adhil.

BankBazaar.com is invested by AVT Infotech and is funded by Angel Investors from Silicon Valley. The company is a first of its kind in this realm of facilitating bank loans, by offering multiple solutions on a real time basis from a wide range of banking and financial institutions. The core team is headed by Adhil Shetty, 30, CEO, Arjun Shetty, 29, COO, Rati Rajkumar, 28, CPO, Iype Isaac, 32, CTO, Vimal Kumar, 29, CIO, Gurjap Kohli, 29, VP and Noel Cedric, 29, Senior Marketing & Sales Manager who work with a total staff strength of 30 hardcore IT professionals, whose collective average age is less than 30.

The venture kickstarted in July 2007 with an investment of USD 1.2 million. During the first half of the current year, they have achieved a turnover of half a crore Rupees. "During this period, we have helped disburse on an average about 500 units of loans a month valued at approximately Rs. 20 crores. The largest loan disbursed was for Rs. 80 lakhs," says Adhil.

Surya Kompella of Bangalore is one such beneficiary. "My company Affiliated Computer Services Inc is into IT enabled services. I had logged into BankBazaar.com to apply for a personal loan of Rs. 2 lakhs for my marriage. I was able to obtain the best bargain from HDFC without having to visit numerous banks. I am thoroughly satisfied with the professionalism of their system and their method of operating," says Surya.

Sridhar Seshadri of Gurgaon is another satisfied customer. A senior person from a leading Internet company, he had availed of a personal loan through the facilities of BankBazaar.com. "I searched the Net for such services and from a list of three, I found the services and features of BankBazaar very user friendly. Within a day of logging in with all my details, I got a positive feedback from three banks from which I shortlisted one - HDFC. After the initial online interaction of filing all the required documents and details, my loan was sanctioned within 7 days. I must say that this experience has been quite encouraging and the brains behind an important financial service like BankBazaar.com needs applause," says Sridhar.

How is BankBazaar.com different? First of all, the process of registering itself is unique. Initially, you don't even have to divulge your name and telephone number. The user provides very basic information to determine his credit profile. The site will revert almost instantly with a few options of banks with their best offers. You can then compare the offers using their easy to use tools. After you have decided which bank or financial institution you want to go to, you can directly apply online. It is only at this stage that your name and contact number will be entered. Normally, similar online facilitators would pass on your contact to as many banks as possible and then you will be inundated with calls. And, mind you, all the facilities offered by BankBazaar.com is free to you. The facility allows you to upload all relevant documents and papers for the bank's verification. Only the personal identification has to be furnished in person. Once the loan is sanctioned, the user will have to make one visit to the bank with all the relevant supporting documents to sign the papers and avail of his loan.

"Competitors merely generate leads for banks i.e. they sell users’ contact details to the banks who then try to convert the lead. Our model adds marginal value and offers an end-to-end real-time solution for the customer," points out Adhil.BankBazaar.com offers a differentiated loan product of a one stop solution with the best online quotes offers from multiple banks. Differentiation is through complete loan completion process online and value add for the banks and customers.

How does this process benefit both the user and the bank? Says Adhil, "The customer needs personalised loan quotes as a simple process. The banks need to cut costs to maintain profitability. Data indicates that online lending in India has achieved critical mass. Banks are focussed on having efficient channels during this downturn." It eliminates the need for setting aside precious man hours and unwanted initial paperwork. "Loans at BankBazaar.com are at a net cheaper cost for the consumer than other options and we are compensated only by the banks and not by end user," says Adhil.

How good are these rates? "These are the lowest rates on offer from these banks. Please feel free to cross-check by directly calling the bank. Upon confirming that BankBazaar.com offers the lowest rates, do come back and apply because we also offer the fastest loan processing system in India," states Adhil.

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