Aditya Birla Capital aims to double customers with new digital platform

Mumbai: Aditya Birla Capital (ABC) is looking to add 3 crore new customers in the next three years through a digital platform launched on Tuesday, a top company official said.

Speaking at the launch of Aditya Birla Capital Digital here, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said it is also aiming for a 19-21 per cent per annum growth in insurance, credit and asset management businesses over the next 3-5 years.

ABC's Chief Executive Vishakha Mulye said it has invested Rs 100 crore over the last year to build the platform, aimed at acquiring new customers.

At present, Aditya Birla Capital serves over 3.5 crore customers across businesses, including lending, insurance, and asset management, she added.

Hinting at the potential customers that can be tapped into, Birla said the wider group has a 2.5-lakh strong small business ecosystem and serves over 25 crore customers through products and services like telecom, fashion, and retail.

It will also tap into the 1.87 lakh-strong employees of the USD 65 billion Aditya Birla Group, ABC officials said, adding that this cohort can alone yield up to 10 lakh customers.

Mulye said necessary consent will be taken from customers to share their data, while another senior company official said the platform will be earning a fee or commission for every product or service which will be sold through it.

Birla said a person can choose from 22 products and services across all the offerings of ABC, while other officials added that certain services that are not offered by companies under ABC stable, like payments, will also be offered to customers.

Birla said the ambition of Aditya Birla Capital is to break into the top three in each of the core businesses, and announced that insurance, credit, and investment businesses of ABC are growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 19-21 per cent over the next 3-5 years.

Asked about more information on the growth target set by the group chairman, a senior official at the company hinted that it will be in the topline in the case of some entities, while in some others, it can be bottomline as well because every business has different characteristics.

Mulye said the target group for the platform is those in the 20-35-year age group, or the 'first income-to-first kid' segment earning between Rs 5-35 lakh annually.

Birla's daughter Ananya's company Svatantra Microfinance's products and services will not be offered on the app, Mulye said, pointing out that the profile of the customers is different.

Birla said the broader financial services sector is expected to grow at two times the annual GDP growth, and the group has embarked on a journey of transformation in the business.