Pepper Group To Launch Fintech Startup Pepper Money In India, Plans $150 Mn Investment

Consumer finance company Pepper Group has announced an investment of $150 Mn over next four years to establish a fintech startup in India under the brand name of Pepper Money. 

The company announced that the fintech startup that is scheduled to be launched in the second half of 2023, will be headed by former FlexiLoans cofounder Abhishek Kothari. Primarily, Pepper Money will target the 15 Cr households in the smaller cities that show a potential for economic growth due to factors such as increase in the disposable income.

Showing confidence in the Indian economy, Mike Culhane, Group CEO of Pepper said, “With 65 percent of the population under 35 years of age and over 90 percent smartphone adoption between 18-35 years, India has the potential to become one of the largest markets for us in the next 5 years.”

With an existing presence across Australia, UK, Europe, South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, the launch of Pepper Money India signifies a long-term commitment to the Indian market.

The group has $21 Bn in its assets under management (AUM) of self-generated loans via its Pepper Money brand, and a further $55 Bn in AUM of third-party loans under credit management via its Pepper Advantage brand. 

Established in 2000, by Culhane, the New South Wales-based company claims to have served more than 327,000 Australians in achieving financial goals with the support of ever-expanding lending options across home loans, car loans, equipment and asset finance, and personal loans.

The Indian fintech industry has seen steep growth rapidly. Inc42’s State Of Indian Fintech Report Q1 2023 states that the market opportunity of the industry is expected to reach $2.1 Tn 2030. 

Further, according to the report, the fintech sector has been hit hard by the funding winter, and both deal value and deal count declined by 40% and 13.5% YoY respectively. But despite these challenges, the future of fintech in India looks promising. 

PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm accounted for a market share of 96.83% in terms of transaction count and 95.35% in terms of transaction value in May 2023. Out of this, PhonePe topped the chart with 47% of the total UPI transactions in May.

Citing the increasing opportunities, these players have also been actively launching new products/services in India. 

Recently, PhonePe Group announced the launch of its Account Aggregator (AA) services through its wholly-owned subsidiary PhonePe Technology Services.

Additionally, Paytm recently launched its UPI SDK offering, which will enable online merchants to streamline their checkout process.