Amazon leads $60M round in Indian financial products marketplace BankBazaar

India’s BankBazaar, a financial products marketplace, has bagged US$60 million in series C funding led by Amazon with participation from Fidelity Growth Partners and Mousse Partners. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Walden International also participated in the round.

BankBazaar is an online marketplace of insurance policies, loans, credit cards, and other personal finance products. It allows users to search, compare, customize, and apply for financial products. They can then track the status of their application. The startup claims to have integrated with over 23 financial institutions and insurance firms.

“BankBazaar is a unique and compelling service that aligns with Amazon’s mission in India – to transform the way India buys and how India sells. BankBazaar is led by an innovative team of visionaries who lay emphasis on things that matter to customers and have a long term focus,” said Amit Agarwal, vice president and country manager of Amazon India in a statement.

The market for financial products – online loans in particular – has evolved over the years, with metropolitan cities such as Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, and Bangalore driving growth in the market. However, many consumers don’t know how to find financial products online. BankBazaar will invest in marketing efforts to reach this untapped segment.

The fresh funds will also be deployed towards technology integration, hiring, and strengthening partner relationships. It will also invest heavily in upgrading the mobile app to deliver a more customized experience. The startup claims that 40 percent of its users connect through smartphones.

In recent years, web aggregators of financial products have begun to play a crucial role in the Indian online loans industry. The growth is primarily driven by loan comparison tools, which are free-of-charge.

Bank Bazaar holds the highest market share in terms of loan disbursal through web aggregators.

Its rivals include eTechAces Marketing, which launched PolicyBazaar for selling insurance policies and PaisaBazaar for selling loans, credit cards, mutual funds, corporate deposits, gold funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

(Disclosure: TechinAsia raised funding from Walden International. See our ethics page for more information.)