August,25th,2021: Freo,India’s first of its kind, credit-led neobank has announced its plan to launch its zero-balance savings account, called Freo Save in collaboration with Equitas Small Finance Bank.
After the founders have previously launched MoneyTap and have championed the lending and credit business with a disbursal more than 4400 crores, this launch is a logical step towards the Freo brand fulfilling its promise to bring the whole suite of financial products to the customer to help in every step of their financial journey throughout life.
Freo Save allows customers to make informed financial decisions and strengthen their credit profile in the process.
The account also offers a best in class interest rate of 7% (on a balance of Rs. 1 lakh and above), world-class customer support, and seamless integration with UPI to make funds transfer and bill payments easier. The 7% interest rate is availed on a balance above ₹5 lakh and up to ₹5 crores.
In researching the needs and wants of more than 50,000 customers between 22-35 years of age by the Product and Marketing teams at Freo, it revealed a lot of insights into the mindsets and perspectives of both Millenials and Gen Z-ers. They were also able to give responses on what their financial aspirations were, such as wanting to buy a house before they were 30. Respondents were able to state clearly that they were concerned about their financial stability and goals, their ability to borrow money with ease, knowing how to build on their credit scores, and most importantly, not wanting to struggle with the background processes with their bank account.
This gave rise to a one stop solution which brought the latest competitive banking features like UPI, Bill Payment Systems, best interest rates available today (7%), and other personal banking and account features directly to the user’s fingertips bringing them one step closer to achieving their financial dreams.
Anuj Kacker, Co-Founder Freo, said, “At Freo, we understand how small steps in the right direction can help you save money, spend smartly, and build credit health. With the launch of our Freo savings account alongside Equitas Small Finance Bank, we aim to help consumers take better steps towards the path of their financial independence. We believe that people have the power to analyse their spending patterns and take small steps that can help them build and bolster their credit score with just a little help. In fact, all our features and solutions under the Freo umbrella are carefully designed to achieve this purpose and provide users with the freedom to spend without fear and give them the added convenience to meet all of their aspirations.”
Today, accessing credit, payments, shopping online, and usage of credit cards, has become so easy and is more useful than ever, allowing consumers to transact anytime, anywhere with complete freedom. However, to have continued access to credit, users must maintain a good credit score, which is a parameter that reflects their financial credibility and likelihood of default. Currently, the only way for people to build their credit history is by getting a credit card or a loan. These have very different eligibility criteria and not everyone qualifies for these options. While a person with no credit history is considered a greater default risk, someone with a good credit score has the convenience of access to more credit options – even long-term loans that are usually large in size – at low interest rates. A credit score of 750 or above is considered ideal while 900 is the best score one can attain. FREO Save has been designed with the purpose of helping everyone build a better credit score.
Dhaarini Vijay, Senior Product Manager, Freo, says, “With 5 years of experience in Credit Lines and Personal loans, we realize there is a large portion of people in the early job/career segments who aren’t able to get access to the convenience of buying now and paying later, or credit card options because of no Credit History. We’re solving this chicken and egg problem with Freo Save that allows customers to save smartwww.Freosave.com and build credit health. With Freo and Equitas having a single minded focus on customer experience, this union is going to make sure the customer finally wins.”
Commenting on the new partnership, Vaibhav Joshi, CDO, Equitas Small Finance Bank, said,”We believe in being customer first and our philosophy is to provide our consumers’ affordability, convenience, and ease. As we descend towards establishing a new age digital banking experience for the customers in the small finance sector, our collaboration with Freo with a similar ideology seems like the right way forward. We believe that our tech infrastructure will empower the unified vision of providing world class consumer first digital banking experience in all cities. Neobanking is a critical part of our Digital 2.0 strategy at Equitas Bank. With Freo’s background and previous strengths in providing services to their 15+ million user base in their lending practice, this partnership will make our banking solutions reach new heights.
“Digitalization has disrupted the way we live or work in today’s world. A clear shift is seen from the traditional way of banking to the digital way of banking. We at Equitas believe in creating the most valuable bank for all stakeholders through happy employees. This partnership with Freo will help elevate the future of financial services by reaching out to the youth, families and business people across India and introduce them to a new way to bank via app-based banking solutions”, added Vaibhav Joshi.
Freo also gives users access to a large pool of other financial tools and services. MoneyTap Credit Line continues to be at the forefront of this list to access and flexibly use funds up to INR 5 lacs from the comfort of an app. These services also include the ability to shop/scan now and paying later along with postpaid limits for shopping and the range of soon to be launched, Freo Cards that enable users to shop and pay later, the Fit. Credit app to determine one’s credit score and get advice on improving credit health, the SuperSplit app to quickly split and settle bills among friends, among others.
Keeping the idea of convenience for the customer as the focus of everything they do, Freo will continue to provide solutions in collaboration with their reputed partner banks and by leveraging state-of-the-art technologies.
About Freo
Freo is the first of its kind, credit-led Neobank in India that is designed to serve the banking needs of millennials in India and Southeast Asia. For many of its offerings, the company has partnered with banks and financial partners to bring new solutions to its customers.
Freo’s vision is to bring consumers freedom from non-digital financial services and provide simple, intuitive, and smart ways for people to access credit, get shopping, pay later solutions, cards and manage money with ease on their phones. As part of its growth and expansion plans, the team at Freo endeavors to provide value to customers as a single point of access to a variety of financial products throughout their lives.
For more information on Freo please visit: www.freo.money
For information on Freo Save Visit: www.freosave.com
