LIC Housing Finance Ltd has announced a strategic partnership with Common Service Centers (CSC) to provide loan products to customers using the network of over four lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). In this partnership, VLEs will be used as a medium to offer LIC HFL’s loan products like home loans, loans against property, and top-up loans.
To avail of the loan facility, interested customers can directly approach the CSC and submit their application with KYC documents like PAN Card, Aadhaar or driving license, passport, and proof of residence along with other income documents required.
The VLE network will help LIC HFL to diversify touchpoints for prospective customers and deepen the company’s presence in new territories. LIC HFL offers home loans starting at 6.70 per cent per annum that may go up depending on the borrower’s creditworthiness reflected in the CIBIL score.
Speaking on the development, LIC HFL’s MD & CEO Y Vishwanatha Gowd said that CSC’s pan India network will help the company to enter untapped market demographics by improving the last mile accessibility of the services. “CSC having a pan-India network catering to the regional, geographic, linguistic, and cultural diversity of the country will help us in our long-term business growth and improve our market share. Leveraging the expertise of both the organisations we aim to provide hassle-free and convenient loans to customers.” Gowd said in a press release.
CSC was introduced by the government as one of the mission mode projects under the Digital India Programme. The scheme offers assisted access to essential government and public utility services, social welfare schemes, financial services, education, and skill development courses, apart from a host of other B2C services.
Presently, there are more than 4 lakh CSCs across the country that act as a delivery point of government and public services for the population in rural, semi-urban and urban areas.
Dr Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, Managing Director, CSC SPV, said that the tie will help LIC HFL in tapping into the rising demand for home loan products in rural India. He said that with the rising aspiration among the younger generation and the concept of nuclear families, there has been a trend of growing demand for home loans.
“Our partnership with LIC Housing will help us reach out to the younger generation who aspires to own a home not just in urban but rural areas too," Tyagi was quoted as saying. He added that the partnership will be LIC HFL to overcome last-mile connectivity issues and build more structured financial information for various loan products in rural areas. One of the market leaders in housing finance, LIC HFL enjoys the highest rating from CRISIL & CARE indicating safety about the ability to service interest and repay the principal
