BoFA deal to get regulatory go-ahead by December; Jio Credit's product plans, strategy to be redrawn: JFS

Non-bank lender Jio Credit's Rs 18,268 crore fund raise from Bank of America (BoFA) will get regulatory nods by December this year, a top official at parent Jio Financial Services (JFS) has said.

Once the capital comes in, the entity will re-evaluate its business strategies and also product plans to accelerate growth in assets under management (AUM), the official said, adding that BoFA is "aligned" with the need for the book to grow fast.

Jio Credit's AUM can grow by around five times from the present Rs 30,000 crore courtesy the capital infusion, JFS' managing director and chief executive Hitesh Sethia told PTI, clarifying that this is the growth runway and not a timed target, which the business is working with.


The company will not need any new capital till the AUM touches up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, he added.

Approvals for the deal from the RBI and the Competition Commission of India will come in by December and the funds will come in tranches over an 18 month period after that, he said.

This will lead to a reconfiguration of the Jio Credit board, he said, pointing out that the American entity will get two board seats, JFS will have two, including the MD and CEO, and there will be four independent directors.

Amid high speculation in the market on when JC will be entering the consumer durable and unsecured lending space, Sethia did not spell out any clear timeline but added that the company will re-evaluate its business plan and product roadmap once the new fund infusion happens.

"...once BoFA comes in, we will re-evaluate the business plan, product roadmap," Sethia said.

"BoFA aligned with us that we need to grow the book very fast, seizing the opportunity in the market," he added.

Sethia said JFS will benefit by way of better risk management practices and developing institutional resilience through the partnership with BoFA, adding that over its two century-old existence, the American entity has seen economic cycles and wars.

The consumer will benefit through better products and services, he said, acknowledging that the products will have to be adapted for Indian market conditions.

From a distribution perspective, the company present in 18 Indian cities will not go beyond 20 cities, Sethia said, adding that these represent four-fifths of the target market opportunity. The plan is to penetrate deeper into the selected 20 cities, he added.

Sethia explained that the reduction in stigma around pledging is among the reasons for the high growth in the gold lending segment, but it does not feature prominently in the list of segments JC wishes to enter.