Aditya Birla Capital Looks To Step Up Its Digital & Payments Play Via Digital Arm

Aditya Birla Capital, the holding company of the financial services business of the Aditya Birla Group, is reportedly planning to step up its digital distribution strategy via its incorporated subsidiary Aditya Birla Capital Digital Ltd (ABCDL).

Aditya Birla Capital incorporated ABCDL in March last year to develop an omnichannel direct-to-customer (D2C) platform to not only serve existing customers but also acquire new customers and act as a one-stop-shop for delivering Protecting, Investing, Financing, and Advisory services (PIFA) to them. 

Having received INR 50 Cr from its parent company last week, the subsidiary is gearing up to launch an app with the goal of “directly sourcing customers for its financial services offerings,” Pankaj Gadgil, group head-digital platforms, Aditya Birla Capital Ltd, told Mint.

“The strategy that we thought through is we said we have a very large opportunity to create an omnichannel platform which will help us acquire digitally at scale, and also allow us to cross-sell from one line of business to another line of business,” Gadgil added.

ABCDL expanded its services to address customer transaction needs by introducing payments. 

ABCD, inclusive of its payments business, is set to have its own third-party payments application provider (TPAP) payments handle (essentially a UPI payments handle). Besides, it will be integrated into the Bharat Bill Payment System, allowing customers to transact with the group using the Aditya Birla Pay handle. 

Without disclosing the banking partners for its TPAP business, Gadgil said the payments handle will be launched in partnership with one large private sector bank and a medium private sector bank. “The payments app is part of our overall app built, so it will go live within the app itself,” he shared.

Aditya Birla Capital provides insurance, investment, and financing services, among others.

In September last year, ABCDL launched an omnichannel, multi-mode collections platform called Payment Lounge, which is powered by payment solutions startup PhiCommerce.

Payment Lounge is aimed at enabling merchants to provide a unified, secure, and faster transaction experience to their customers for making digital payments. 

The platform is underpinned by PhiCommerce’s omnichannel payment platform PayPhi, which is a one-stop solution serving businesses’ diverse payment needs across both online and offline channels.