Almost 70% of India lives in its villages and Semi Urban / Rural areas, and it contributes to about 46% of our national income. For India to move towards sustainable growth, advancement in Rural/ Semi Urban areas and villages are necessary.
Semi urban / Rural India is largely dependent on agriculture for its income. However, it also promises employment in other sectors too. An organised financial service with access to formal credit acts like a lifesaving tool in these geographies.
Orange Retail Finance India is a rural NBFC started in the year 2014 with 1 branch in Tenkasi, and currently it has over 100+ branches across south India. ORFIL provides affordable mobility and livelihood solutions through tech based digital approach backed by strong branch driven distribution model to the semi urban and rural markets of the country. They are on a journey to enrich the lives of countless people including those who are either unserved or underserved.
Through technology ORFIL has achieved an incredible feat of last mile lending, covering about 10,000 + villages in the last 8 years of its journey. ORFIL has recently launched an end-to-end Digital Lending Platform which will deliver the two wheelers to the customer residence. They have named it as Orange Digi Wheels a web-based platform and Orange Finmobi a mobile app. The way forward is Digital, says Ebe.
Role Model
To be an effective, inspiring leader, learn from your Mistakes is what Ebenezer Daniel G, a First Gen entrepreneur fondly known as Ebe amongst his employees and peers and business associates believes.
Ebe is the MD and CEO of ORFIL an enterprising and focussed Individual who believes in an empathy driven approach towards all the clientele his organization caters to.
is known for his detailed operational expertise with a deep understanding about the market ORFIL caters to. While the recent financial collapse took down several industries, including a lot of bigger players from the BFSI and NBFC segment, he has successfully managed to avoid the same fate for ORFIL speaking volumes of his leadership.
Venturing into a Dynamic Field
ORFIL strongly believes that BFSI industry is dynamic & fast-paced. Finance is an essential part of our economy as it provides the liquidity in terms of money or assets required for individuals and businesses.
“My industry has provided me with the foundation for a broad range of opportunities in Retail Finance space. However, the vision of becoming the preferred neighbourhood financier is what drove me to found ORFIL,” says Ebe.
Services to Note
Two-Wheeler Loans:
With flexible tenor, faster loan disbursement and easy repayment options, its two-wheeler loan product has been uniquely designed to suit the varying needs of rural and semi-urban India.
Swift Cash Loans
The need for Cash emerges every minute be it India or elsewhere. As a value creation offering, ORFIL’s provides Swift Cash Loans. It is an instant pre-approved loan that can be availed in less than 30 minutes by its existing customers to meet their unique and immediate financial needs.
Loan Against Properties (LAP)
ORFIL’s LAP product allows you to use the value locked up in your owned property to meet any expenses you may incur. The loan amount depends on the total value of your property. Your property acts as collateral for the loan, but you can continue to use it as before.
Facing Challenges
The BFSI segment as you may all agree is undergoing a radical shift, one driven by new competition from fintech companies, the ever-changing business models, mounting regulation and compliances, and disruptive technologies.
With all this advent in technology and tech platform’s introductions within the financial space – it has still failed to touch the lives of Semi urban / Rural India, which is still vastly considered disorganised and heavily unbanked.
Considering this as an opportunity, ORFIL began its journey and the results are all evident today with the thousands of lives touched by my organization and the testimonials that our customers have to say about us and our presence in their lives, encourages us to be their preferred mobility and livelihood partner.
The emergence of FinTech/non-bank start-ups is changing the competitive landscape in financial services, forcing traditional institutions to rethink the way they do business. These segments within rural pockets as underdeveloped and, the customer demands are evolving as consumers seek round-the-clock personalized service. This is something the company promised at the time of inception, and this is something it sticks to even today.
These and other industry challenges can be resolved by technology, however the transition from legacy systems to innovative solutions has not always been an easy one. This is exactly what ORFIL has been striving for and in the coming days, the market will witness path breaking products, A first of its kind offering to further carve a leadership position for ORFIL.
Combating the Pandemic
The ongoing Pandemic has indeed been a looming threat to lives and livelihoods and has led organisations to think about various ways and means to prepare for a new normal.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, uncertainty was rising. BSFI industry were running in loss with some major players facing a brink of shut down or being brought over by bigger players. NPAs and other market uncertainties were already having a profound impact on many industries and regions. Then the pandemic ushered in an era of lockdowns and complete work shutdowns. ORFIL believed and followed the one constant through these turbulent times: The need to adapt and quickly change.
ORFIL quickly adapted to the new normal and moved to Hybrid work models, which in turn propelled the need for new workforce abilities. It ensured that it’s desk and field workforce was kept secure and away from the impending threat of exposure as much as it could. Work from home and safe zones were the new norm and they were quick to implement it. They offered Moratoriums to clients to ease their financial burden during these troubled times. It was all about being there for each other that has proven vital for our very existence and steady growth even during these troubled times.
Learning from the Best
“This could be an endless list taking into consideration my own real time experiences of success and failures encountered during my journey till today. I am however going to summarize the same in a few points in my own personal words and in a way that I would like to reach out to the GEN Z as I would want to call them,” says Ebe.
Ebe states, “Find your passion. It is important to understand that the most successful entrepreneurs are the people who are passionate about what they do. Understand what your capabilities are and know your market well. Do your own Swot and find ways to convert the weakness into opportunities with the help of skills and learning and adaptability.”
“Ensure that your finances are in order and prepare to let go things that are way beyond your reach. You will eventually reach them over time. It is very important to find good investors, especially if you are a start-up. Someone who clearly understands and relates to your passion. Tune your knowledge for your business and always plan. You never know where the road takes a Hair Pin bend,” conveys Ebe.
Future Goals
The company has diversified into segments of Two-Wheeler Loans, Micro Business Loans, Swift Cash Loans, Instant Digital TW Loan & Loan Against Property, and they are poised for our next phase of growth. The next phase being ‘Digital Transformation’.
The next few weeks will bear testimonies of our unrelenting surge for success with the introduction of a path breaking product, the 1st of its kind within the two-wheeler loan category. Please keep a look out on our social media pages for the updates. Our team is very excited about this new product introduction and would like the market to witness the change coming their way more than talking about it at this stage.
We have successfully covered the entire southern states of India, by touching more than 1.3 lakh lives through our branch distribution channels and strong workforce and these numbers are growing, which only fuels passion to go out there and do more. “It is all about being their mobility and livelihood partner as our positioning line states,” states the team of ORFIL.
Current Industrial Scenario
ORFIL has noticed that the BFSI sector have been increasingly focusing on adopting an integrated approach to risk management. Recoveries are looking more positive and despite the ongoing pandemic
there will be a need for financial services in Semi urban / Rural areas, and therefore, drive the growth of the sector. This is where ORFIL have been focussing on and this is the area, it will continue to play in.
“We are exposed to the fact that digital payments will revolutionise massive changes in the way credit is disbursed in India. Debit cards have clearly replaced credit cards as the preferred payment mode in India after demonetisation. UPI is the order of the day. This is just our insights from what we see on a day-to-day basis in an industry that is ever buoyant,” concludes Ebe.
