Truecaller, aiming to offer loans soon, ropes in Flipkart lending exec as India MD

On the cusp of launching loan services, caller identification service Truecaller has appointed Flipkart head of consumer and commercial lending Sandeep Patil as its India managing director.

The announcement comes more than a year after the mobile phone directory app, developed by Swedish startup True Software Scandinavia AB, forayed into the digital payments space in India with the launch of Truecaller Pay in March 2018. In June 2018, Truecaller acquired multi-bank payments app Chillr for strengthening its mobile payments product. 

According to a statement by the app, India is one of Truecaller’s largest markets with 100 million daily active users. 

Truecaller India’s Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru teams will report to Patil, who is based in Bengaluru. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and London School of Business alumnus has advised financial institutions during his stint at consulting firm McKinsey & Company in London. 

“Patil’s expertise and experience in consumer technology, financial services, and his strong global strategic experience will definitely help Truecaller fast-track many of our ambitious plans and take them to the next level,” said Alam Mamedi, chief executive at Truecaller.

Patil said, “We consider India our home market, where we want to deepen our presence, engagement and relevance. I look forward to further strengthening our innovative organisation and collaborating with the ecosystem to take Truecaller to greater heights.”

Truecaller’s payments services rivals those of Google, Paytm and Amazon. Facebook’s WhatsApp is yet to roll out its payments services in India.