India's Largest Lending Platform | Fibe (formerly EarlySalary

Five years ago, on the 23^rd of Feb, we pushed out EarlySalary MVP with a belief that it would be a stepping stone for building a credit ecosystem that would power and upgrade our customers’ lives in a meaningful, tangible way. We were a small team that worked around the clock, spent sleepless nights fueling this vision of making credit accessible to all.

 The thesis of Fibe was very straightforward. We knew that:

1. Customers are often seeking a salary advance which no one was there to cater 
2. 99% of such customers pay back on time.
3. The entire journey can be self-served on a mobile app without any human intervention which means customers’ experience has to be supreme.

With this in mind, in the first 180 days, more than 10,000 people experienced our product, and not just they liked the idea but came back with suggestions to help us improve. Of course, this helped motivate us to keep working harder. EarlySalary elevated itself into a full-fledged digital lending service with the capacity to manage few lac customers simultaneously, to borrow, repay and engage with.

The Journey to becoming a viable business model

As we persevered hard and transitioned to build a platform for solving the credit needs of our customers, personal loans were a logical extension to our portfolio. Of course, this was done without losing focus on our shorter tenure loans. From here on, the innovation flowed more fluidly than we had ever seen. We came up with credit to shop online, followed by us launching a direct partnership with corporates to offer credit to every employee – Blue, Grey, or White. The second phase for EarlySalary allowed it to grow to more than 100,000 active customers. But for us what really mattered was customer feedback and appreciation. And we strived hard to measure and perform on those metrics more than any other.

Gaining customer love

As we started our next sprint, the focus remained on being loved by our customers. To overperform on this metric, we ensured:

• Self-serve as a clear focus: customers should be able to do everything from borrow, to repay, to solve doubts, set-up repayments, increase limits or resolve issues digitally. We call this Uberization of lending as a business.
• The second was going beyond just giving money and becoming a part of our customers’ everyday life. We fueled it by adding a universal credit limit that could be utilized anytime and repaid anytime. It could also be used to shop or travel apart from withdrawing cash. This helped establish us as a recurring, significant part of our customers’ life instead of being a transactional service.

As we analyzed our data, we saw a lot of customers referred by existing users. That is what we wanted to achieve as a brand. We were not just assisting our customers with their credit needs but earned the position of a brand that they can recommend to others.

One Platform for all products

Our next pivot came when we expanded our vision to be a single platform for all lending needs of our customers, Hence, more choices of products to our customers.

As you can guess, every new product involves new risks, new innovation, a new product journey, and a new way of doing business. But credit (pun unintended!) goes to our Risk and Product teams who took up this challenge and built railroads to get a customer to borrow for any need and build the backbone for our checkout business and Salary Card business. Today, a customer is managed on a dynamic behavioral risk scorecard, which allows them to borrow longer tenure when they need to, finance their skill up-gradation needs or shop on EMIs when they want. This capability is now being harnessed by our partnership teams to build No Cost EMI for consumer products as we grow and cater to our 500,000 active customer base.

Sustainability as a business

Financial services start-ups have faced multiple challenges in the last 24 months. We have seen two NBFC crises & two banks collapse that led to immense capital shortages followed by extremely difficult times for everyone during the recent pandemic. It is why we must extend our gratitude to our teams that kept our heads down and focused on doing what’s right for customers. How you ask? By focusing on principles of automation and ensuring we stood strong as the business climate did a 180. The results have been more than satisfactory and give us an opportunity to thank every member of the EarlySalary family and every customer who used our services, enabling us to build a sustainable business today. Over the past 2 years, we have grown to process 10x the loans, and are one of the highest-rated FinTech apps in India. Most importantly, we see ourselves as a part of our customers’ life. And that was always the goal.

What is in store for our customers and EarlySalary family?

While we have achieved one of our early goals, the journey is of course, far from over. For our customers, we have a lot in the pipeline. We still seek a utopia where an even larger number of customers recommend us to their friends, family, and employers. We are working tirelessly to ensure we keep innovating to introduce new products and features that can service every credit need – from cards to Buy Now Pay Later, from salary advance to personal loans. We want to make sure we are your first choice.

A message to our EarlySalary family – we need to go 10x on our current size in the next 24 months. This will only happen if we continue to do what we have always done – focus on making sure we are part of our customers’ lives, by enabling them with meaningful credit that serves as an upgrade.

Celebrating 5 Years of EarlySalary App
Akshay & Ashish

Succeeding as an organization requires a robust combination of business skills, change management and decision-making, and most importantly, happy employees. Employees need to drive performance and create value for the organization. In return, the ideal enterprise should assist them with what matters the most – budgeting and financial wellness. Especially in an age dominated by millennials.

One of the most important skills to master is budgeting. This would require the HR and finance departments to customize training programs to meet changing needs. Having well-rounded communication with a team is not only excellent for recruitment and retention but also translates well into crucial metrics – improving productivity and profits. 

Let’s delve deeper to see how you can help them in the process of preparing and overseeing their financial plans and expenses.

• Help them Getting Started

The simplest way to help employees with budgeting is by giving them access to tools and schemes that help them control spending and learn about reliable investment sources. Financial literacy is low at 24% in the country, despite well-developed financial markets. Financial literacy for managing debt or education about decision-making criteria for instruments offering varying interest rates and options is of utmost importance as your employees’ progress and set afoot in asset creation. 

With the increase in salary deducted savings and loan products becoming popular, advise them about the tax consequences and long-term effects on credit score. The provision of simplified frameworks on how to approach spending is also helpful. Evidence-based training that teaches the steps to stay on budget and means to direct surpluses can lead your team towards building financial resilience and superior lifestyle choices. 

• Credit Counselling & Debt Management

The biggest advantage of credit counseling and debt management sessions is fewer garnishments or advance pay requests and also fewer unexplainable or frequent calls at work. When employees know how to strike the right balance, they would need no time off to deal with exigencies from legal matters that arise from mismanagement. Refer them to reputable sources of assistance such as Fibe, which can offer instant digital salary advance, a Salary card, and instant loan and help your employees escape the complete nightmares caused due to stress and anxiety.

•  Employee Benefit Schemes

While savings may be a borderline utopian idea for the millennial workforce, it’s essential to reinforce the age-old saying, “money saved is money earned”. Encourage them to save and invest appropriately depending on their risk appetite and age. Meal coupons, employee discount programs, company medical insurance schemes, etc. can help your employees control spendings and get some tax savings too. 

• Retirement plans

With the wave of privatization ever so strong, the cohort that can rely on pensions is shrinking. The YouGov-Mint Millennial Survey revealed that among millennials, only 40%, and among the GenZ, only 17 percent are saving for retirement. The middle-aged working population is struggling to juggle higher education expenses for their children and maintaining a lifestyle. This is a trade-off being made in favor of current consumption over the future. 

It’s important to make employees understand this trade-off’s opportunity cost by introducing schemes like the National Pension Scheme in your organization, which can help them with pension and tax savings. It is also important to help your employees understand the tax and inflation-adjusted returns of PPF/ gratuity/ EPF and other schemes. 

Make such conversations a part of monthly meet-ups to help employees develop financial discipline. In a society awash with financial instruments, help your employees with effective financial wellbeing communications to make a real difference.   

We Can Help

That said a professional financial counselor can provide the necessary support to help your employees with decision-making. Fibe (Formerly EarlySalary) has a stellar track record of powering financial wellness for corporate India by training employees for today’s financial challenges and tomorrow. 

If you need financial wellness ideas, credit, or loans to fulfill instant cash needs!

Download the instant loan app here, or log in to our website and be a part of the #OneSmallStep experience.

The global (along with the Indian) economy, has had a tumultuous journey in the past year due to the setbacks from the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the vaccination process underway, we’re returning back to normal and all activities are resuming in full swing. In the midst of this, the BJP-led Government announced its Union Budget for the Year 2021-22. To us, perhaps what was more relevant was – what changed for our taxes this year?

As discussed in detail by our Finance Minister Dr. Nirmala Sitharaman, the budget for the next financial year has brought about a few significant changes in the practices related to the area of Income Tax returns and its filing process. Even though there was no respite or change so far as the Income-tax slabs are concerned, several other positive changes were brought forth so as to provide some respite to a lot of vulnerable classes such as the senior citizens. 

Some of the most significant changes that were introduced by the Union budget are listed as follows: 

• No income tax return filing for persons above the age of 75 years

Senior citizens do not need to file the Income Tax Return upon meeting a certain set of conditions such as 

1. Their source of income should exclusively be Pension and Interest payments 
2. The interest payment should be from the same bank in which the pension is being deposited 
3. Bank has to be within the list of banks which will be notified by the government to claim this exemption 
4. A declaration to the effect of allowing the bank to perform the necessary functions will have to be furnished by the Assessee. 

This essentially means that the senior citizens are not exempted from filing income tax returns in toto. Rather, the bank will fill it on their behalf and give them the benefits under Chapter VI A and Section 87A of the Income Tax Act, 1951. 

• Pre-filled information in the Income Tax return forms:

In order to simplify the Tax filing procedure for the Taxpayers, a lot of information such as the dividend from listed securities, salary income, TDS among other things, will be prefilled in the Income Tax return forms. This would make the filing of Income Tax returns much easier for even the people who are not from the finance industry and thus will positively impact compliance. 

• Reduction in time to file delayed Income Tax Return 

The time frame to file the belated or the revised income tax returns has been shortened by 3 months. It essentially means that for the upcoming financial year, it has to be filed by 31st December 2021 instead of March 2022. 

• Additional Tax liability upon Employee Provident Fund

From the next financial year, the interest upon the Employee’s share to EPF exceeding the amount of 2.5 Lacs will also be taxed. This was done with the motive to discourage the practice of Voluntary Provident fund contributions and to increase the flow of money in the economy. 

• Changes in the Tax Audit system 

In the last budget, the tax audit limit for an individual carrying on a business was increased from one crore to five crores annual turnover in cases wherein the total cash receipts and payments did not exceed its 5%. This threshold has again been increased to 10 crores in the upcoming financial year. This was done so as to give digital payments a boost in the business sector and to give a push towards a digital economy. 

• Exemption of trusts from TDS 

The payment of TDS on dividend coming from either the Real Estate Investment Trusts or Infrastructural investment trusts has been exempted so as to simplify the procedure of payment of advance tax as well as to incentivize investment in the economy. 

• Exemption of LTC Cash Schemes from Income Tax

Exclusively for the next financial year, the union budget has declared that any sum received as Leave Travel Concession Allowance will be exempt from taxation so as to give tourism a much-needed boost within the country. 

• Increase TDS and TCS for Income Tax filing defaulter

With the insertion of Section 206AB in the Income Tax Act, 1961 by the union budget, double the amount of TDS will be charged from the people who default in the filing of Income Tax returns. A similar provision is also inserted by way of Section 206AA for the increase in the TCS in such a scenario. This has been done to increase the rate of compliance. 

Parting thoughts 

The union budget in the post-COVID times needed to bring about several significant changes to resurrect the Indian economy. Even though this budget has proposed several such changes which will help in boosting the economy, its success or failure still largely is dependent upon its overall compliance. 

The budget has proposed several ways through which money can be injected back into the economy along with providing impetus to investment activities. With the new changes, there are several ways by which an individual can get more money back from its Income Tax Return filing or save on tax legally.

It is pertinent to mention here that personal loans can also be used as a tool for decreasing your tax liability and it is one such way to save your money. 

We, at Fibe, provide instant personal loans with no hassle and at just a click of a button. What are you waiting for? 

Get started on the Fibe experience now!

Want to talk to us about credit, loans, and your instant cash needs?

Download the Fibe app here, or simply log in to our website and be a part of the #OneSmallStep experience.

Excited to see those figures in your salary slip but confused why the credited amount does not match? Well, there is a difference between your take-home/ net and gross salary and the CTC (Cost to Company). If you are puzzled by these terms, then keep reading this blog as we break down each component on your salary slip and explain what it means for you. You may not need documentation like your salary slip for an instant loan at Fibe, but you still ought to know the specifics of your compensation, right?

Before that, let’s understand the difference between CTC and Take-Home salary. Your CTC is inclusive of your fixed and variable pay. It includes: 

• House Rent Allowance (HRA), 
• Provident Fund (PF), 
• Medical Insurance, 
• subsidized loans, 
• free meals or meal coupons, such as Sodexo and 
• Other allowances added to the basic salary. 

All these elements when combined together constitute Cost to Company. Your take-home salary is income after deducting income tax at source (TDS) and other deductions as per the relevant company policy.

Components on Your Salary Slip

Your salary slip has information like company name, employee name, designation and employee code, etc. The salary components can be classified into three benefits: direct benefits, indirect benefits, and savings contributions. Direct benefits include Basic Salary, DA, conveyance allowance, HRA, medical allowance, LTA, bonus, and other special allowances. Further, the salary components may either fall in the Income/Earnings and Deductions category. 

Your CTC is a summation of Direct Benefits, Indirect Benefits, and Savings Contributions. Gross salary includes indirect benefits such as employee provident fund (EPF) and gratuity. It also includes bonuses, overtime pay, holiday pay, and other differentials. To put it simply, this is the amount paid before tax or other deductions.  

EPF is an employee-benefit scheme prescribed by the Ministry of Labour. Your employer is mandated to contribute at least 12% of your salary towards EPF. This amount can be withdrawn fully at the time of retirement or when you attain the age of 55 years. Gratuity is a percentage of the basic salary and generally amounts to 4.81% of your basic salary. EPF, gratuity, and superannuation benefits are savings contributions.

Now let’s delve deeper into the salary break-down: 

• Basic Salary

The basic salary is the fixed component which will not vary unless you get a performance appraisal. This fixed amount is the common denominator as a percentage of which other variables are calculated. This amount will always be part of your in-hand salary and usually comprises about 35% to 40% of the total.

As part of your salary structure, either all or some of your allowances are given to help you take care of your basic needs. These include:

• House Rent Allowance (HRA)

HRA is part of CTC and also comes with tax benefits up to a specific limit. Your tax rebate would be the minimum of the following:

1. Annual Rent paid minus ten percent of the Basic and Dearness Allowance pay 
2. Actual HRA received
3. If you are located in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi then 50% of (Basic + DA) and in case the location of other cities then 40% of ((Basic + DA) in case.

• Leave Travel Allowance (LTA)

This is another salary component that is tax-exempted upto a limit. This allowance is to cover your and your immediate family’s travel expenses when you travel anywhere in India. Note that LTA pays only for the travel allowance and not other expenditures on food, stay, etc. Remember to keep proof of the journey to avail tax deduction subject to specific limits. 

• Dearness Allowance (DA)

As inflation changes, your salary is also adjusted to help you keep up with the rising price levels. Dearness Allowances are a cost of living adjustment.

• Bonus

Bonus is paid once or twice a year after performance appraisal and is a fully taxable amount.

The bottom line is that your salary slip isn’t as complicated as it is made out to be. It is important to choose smartly from competing job offers, review each component to optimize for tax liability, your credit limit, and eligibility.

Download the instant loan app here, or log in to our website and be a part of the #OneSmallStep experience.

As consumers, ideally, we want to be able to fulfill all our wants with our salary whilst preserving a rainy day backup.  But in reality, most of us have little option but to borrow to bridge the gap. As financial institutions carpet bomb you with loan offers, mailers, and SMS, it is important to differentiate between each instrument. While deciding to take credit is one decision, choosing between an instant loan and a credit card loan is another. Both give you the option to structure credit and its terms, but there are differences.

A credit card loan is generally recommended for short-term debt and instant cash loans when you need a longer repayment tenure to pay back the debt.  Having said that, there’s more to it. 

Read here to find out how instant cash loans vs credit card loans compare, and which one is better suited for you. 

• Ticket-Size

Credit Card Loan: Generally, the credit card loan limit varies between two to three times your monthly salary. If you earn Rs 25,000 per month, your credit card loan limit will vary between Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000.

For instant loans, there is no fixed limit as there are several other determinants that decide the loan amount. You can get a bigger loan amount sanctioned and the ticket size generally varies between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15,00,000. The most commonly evaluated determinants are your debt-to-income ratio, job stability, credit score, etc. The higher your income is, the better chances you have at getting loan approval.

Looking to finance a bigger expense? Consider the Fibe instant loan. The minimum salary requirement that makes you eligible for personal loans in rural areas is INR 15,000 and if you reside in a metro city, it is INR 20,000 per month.

• Unsecured Loan

Need credit but don’t have collateral? Worry not, you can take an instant personal loan or credit card loan. Both are unsecured and there is no collateral or security. However, be mindful of the loan agreement and the fine print before opting for either of these. Understand the case of non-repayment & delayed payments as they are a tad different from traditional loans. 

• Expenses

A credit card loan works only with vendors who accept card payments. This may limit the use case unless you get hard cash against it (which comes at a higher interest rate fee).

On the contrary, a cash loan does not have a caveat on spending. You can use it anywhere as the disbursed amount is transferred directly to your bank account. This is helpful for large ticket-size loan requirements like significant home repairs, exotic holidays, etc. 

• Installment Debt and Revolving Debt

A credit card loan is associated with revolving debt where repayment is open-ended and tied to an interest rate charge that varies with the monthly dues. Consider, for example, a credit card with Rs 50,000 spending limit and you have dues amounting to Rs 40,000 (on the verge of being maxed out). In this case, your monthly interest rate will be higher, and it’ll fluctuate until you have settled dues. 

These types of loans are associated with installment debt where you have to pay fixed installments every month. Here, the interest rates are fixed irrespective of the sanctioned amount used.

• Tenures

A credit card is better suited for small purchases and its repayment tenure ranges from 30 days to 45 days. Non-repayment or delayed payments attract high-interest rates on the outstanding amount.

The tenure to repay the loan amount varies from 3 months to 24 months. If you need to borrow against a longer time frame, it is best to choose an instant cash loan. 

How to choose between cash loans and credit card loans?

If it’s a smaller sum, choose a credit card as it is faster to pay off and if you have excellent credit, you may even get a lower rate or may qualify for a 0% introductory APR on a new credit card. However, if you are a spendthrift, a cash loan can keep you out of the vicious cycle of debt. It’s also better if you need a substantial credit amount.

Clearly, there’s no one-size-fits-all with respect to cash loans or credit card loans. If you need a loan, the instant loan app can help. The process is simple and quick. All you have to do is download the Fibe app and register to apply!

Download the personal loan app here, or log in to our website and be a part of the #OneSmallStep experience.

FAQs on personal loan vs credit card

Which one is better: a loan or credit card?

While both options are common to most people’s financial toolkits, you can choose between them based on the amount you require and your repayment timeline. Take a loan for a larger loan amount and a longer tenure and a credit card for a small amount and a shorter tenure.

Is it smarter to get a loan or credit card?

Take a call based on your need for finance. Both options help you get access to funds and build your credit score if you can repay what you borrow or use on time.

Which interest is higher – a credit card or a personal loan?

Usually, credit cards come with a higher interest rate as compared to personal loans. However, you only pay interest on credit cards if you do not clear your dues on time.

What are the advantages of using a quick loan vs a credit card?

A quick loan gives you a higher loan amount and comes with a flexible repayment duration that you can choose based on your finances. A credit card gives you 30-45 days to clear your past dues and offers you revolving credit, attractive offers and deals.

What is cheaper, a loan or credit card?

A credit card can be more affordable as you can avoid interest charges as long as you can pay your bill in full. If you cannot, then a credit card generally has a higher interest rate as compared to a loan.

What is difference between personal loan and credit card loan?

A personal loan requires you to meet the lender’s eligibility criteria, fill in an online application form, submit the required documents and then repay the loan amount in EMIs over a time of your choosing. Applying for a credit card may involve the same procedure or be easier if you are an existing customer or receive an offer. However, the interest rate is higher on any pending dues in comparison to a loan.

Is it better to have a credit card or a loan?

Consider both options and compare their features based on the amount you can borrow, restrictions on use, repayment timeline, and eligibility.