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Iifl Finance

Can IIFL Finance become the dominant embedded lending backbone for India's MSME and e-commerce ecosystem by distributing credit through digital-first fintech and marketplace partners?

Founded1995
HQThane, Maharashtra, India
IndustryFintech / Lending
The story

Founded as India Infoline in 1995, the group diversified into non-banking finance through IIFL Finance Limited, becoming a full-spectrum NBFC offering home loans, gold loans, SME loans, and supply chain finance. IIFL Finance has progressively digitized its lending distribution through partnerships with fintech platforms (FinBox, Xtracap, KreditBee, Lendingkart and others), embedding itself into e-commerce and MSME ecosystems. The company has leaned into WhatsApp-based loan origination and co-lending models as a key go-to-market differentiator in India's competitive NBFC landscape.

Last 12 months
2023-01
Product timeline
1995
IIFL Group founded as India Infoline, offering financial advisory and broking services.· pivot
2012
IIFL Finance carved out as a separate NBFC entity focusing on retail lending including home loans, gold loans, and SME loans.· banking
2019
RBI imposed restrictions on IIFL Finance's gold loan business citing irregularities; restrictions subsequently lifted after compliance improvements.· banking
2021
Partnered with FinBox to digitize credit access for MSMEs through embedded BNPL and working capital credit products.· lending
2023
Launched Business Loans up to $1M on WhatsApp, enabling conversational lending for SMEs.· lending
2024
Expanded Digital Finance program with fintech partners including Xtracap Fintech to serve e-commerce merchants with working capital loans.· lending
Regulated entities
NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company)
India (RBI)
IIFL Finance Limited
The stack
Lending
Home LoanGold LoanSME Business LoanWorking Capital LoanSupply Chain Finance – Vendor FinanceSupply Chain Finance – Payable FinanceE-commerce Business LoanBNPL (via FinBox partnership)Business Loan via WhatsApp (up to $1M)
Accounting gap: none