Geojit Credits, an NBFC, and subsidiary of Geojit Financial Services, on Wednesday launched its digital platform to offer loans against shares (LAS). With the launch of the digital platform, Geojit Credits becomes the first company to disburse LAS digitally to any demat account holder registered with NSDL.
The platform was formally launched by Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director of National Securities Depository Ltd, in the presence of CJ George, Founder and Managing Director of Geojit, A Balakrishnan, Executive Director of Geojit, and Prashant Vagal, Executive Vice-President of NSDL, at a function held in Kochi.
Padmaja Chunduru said, “NSDL has, of late, undertaken various technology-driven initiatives such as the launch of Insta Demat account, Demat Gateway, etc, to offer superior convenience to its stakeholders. NSDL Digital LAS facility has been designed to provide instant liquidity to investors to help them fund further investments or to meet immediate personal expenses. Using the LAS digital facility, an NSDL demat account holder can submit pledge request to her or his DP in less than a minute.”
Geojit’s LAS digital platform will enable clients to apply for loans by pledging shares by selecting a scheme of their choice and completing all documentation online. Once the loan application is digitally signed and approved, the amount will be instantly credited to the bank account of the client and interest will be charged only for the amount utilised.
According to CJ George, the LAS market is estimated to be around ₹55,300 crore as of October 2021 and growing at a rate of 23-25 per cent per annum. However, cumbersome paperwork often delays the LAS scheme with clients failing to get loans on time. With the launch of the digital platform, Geojit will make the LAS cycle, from processing to disbursal, fully digital and shrink the lead time to a few minutes from a number of days.
Clients who want to apply for a loan on LAS digital platform must have free holdings of eligible shares in their demat accounts and a satisfactory CIBIL score. Those with demat account with NSDL, irrespective of who their brokers are, can also avail LAS through Geojit Credits’ online platform.