Indian FinTech BankBazaar Plans IPO in 2023, Expects to Hire 1,500

BankBazaar.com, a FinTech co-branded credit card issuer and online platform for free credit score, will go for an IPO in 2023, a report in the Times of India said Thursday (April 7).

The company plans to recruit over 1,500 new employees for its expansions of tech and products, which will help it support more revenue growth this year.

The company’s goal is to have a million co-brand credit cards in circulation within two years.

BankBazaar was reportedly able to boost credit card issuances by 82% in fiscal year 2022 compared to the previous year.

“We intend that our IPO demonstrates our strong grasp of the fundamentals of the Indian BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector and our tailored solutions,” said Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar.com.

The report notes that over 70% of customers using BankBazaar have a credit score of 700 or more. The company wants to cater to that base, using numerous tailored products like credit cards and personal loans from numerous banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

In addition, BankBazaar.com wants to get more into the buy now, pay later (BNPL) field, which has been popular over the pandemic for its ability to let people buy expensive things with installment payments.

PYMNTS wrote that, in other BNPL news, U.S. Bank is expanding its BNPL program ExtendPay, which it rolled out a year ago.

Read more: US Bank Expands ExtendPay, Its BNPL Card Payments Program

The bank said the program allows for the usual splitting of the cost of an item into installment payments. Holders of U.S. Bank cards using the system can keep the rewards for using their cards. Payments can be spread over three to 24 months.

Some BNPL systems depend on shoppers applying to use extended-pay options at purchase, U.S. Bank makes it so card holders can use it independent of any retailer programs.