AngelPrime co-founder floats fin-tech startup MoneyTap

Bala Parthasarathy, who quit as managing partner of seed-stage investment firm Prime Venture last year, has joined hands with two other entrepreneurs to set up financial technology venture MoneyTap.

MoneyTap, operated by Bengaluru-based MWYN Tech Pvt. Ltd, claims it is India's first app-based credit services provider. It has tied up with banks to offer money on demand with zero collateral and without guarantors, the company's founders said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Parthasarathy had previously co-founded Prime Venture Partners, earlier known as AngelPrime, and quit the firm in July last year. He had earlier founded Snapfish, helped build it to a company with $300 million revenue and sold it to Hewlett-Packard in 2005. Prime Venture has also invested an undisclosed amount in MoneyTap.

MoneyTap's other co-founders are Anuj Kacker and Kunal Varma. Kacker and Varma previously co-founded job discovery platform Tapstart, which was initially known as SkillWiz. Kacker has also worked with Bharti Airtel while Varma founded two more companies in the past.

MoneyTap says its partner banks, such as RBL Bank, will provide a credit limit of up to Rs 5 lakh to users. Consumers, through the MoneyTap app, can borrow as little as Rs 3,000 or as much as Rs 5 lakh and repay it in equated monthly installments ranging from two months to three years.

Harjeet Toor, head of cards, retail and MSME loans, and financial inclusion at RBL Bank, said that the tie-up with MoneyTap will help the bank target segments that are otherwise difficult to focus on.

Users need to share some information on the app to check whether they are eligible for a loan. They can also track all their transfers, transactions and EMIs in one place. Users need to pay Rs 500 plus service tax as one-time fee to set up their accounts. MoneyTap will get a commission comprising a mix of the set-up fee and part of the interest charged by banks.

The startup offers its services in Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. It aims to be present in 30 cities by the end of March 2017.

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