01 February 2021
PeerBerry introduces new loan originator from Sri Lanka | Cash X short-term loans with 12% ROI
On February 1, 2021, PeerBerry expanded business partners’ geography by adding a new loan originator Cash X – Aventus Group company in Sri Lanka. Cash X short-term loans are offered with a 12% annual return on investment. Loans are double secured – fully backed with a buyback guarantee and the Group guarantee.
Cash X started its activity in Sri Lanka in the autumn of 2019. Currently, the Cash X loan portfolio amounts to 354.660 EUR. Cumulative issued loans amount to 1.152.027 EUR. At Cash X work 43 employees.
Raivis Ruskulis, the Aventus Group CEO for Sri Lanka market shares with us what is the business-specific in Sri Lanka, also what is the current situation in the market due to pandemic.
What are the specifics of the Sri Lanka market and the lending business in this country?
A growing number of Fintech related businesses are emerging in Asia, reflecting an increasing interest in the global boom. As for Sri Lanka, its growth isn’t satisfactory compared to the nation’s regional peers.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, China and India are spearheading advancements that are shaping global trends in this sector. Similarly, Singapore and Hong Kong are far more advanced in fintech. In comparison, Sri Lanka is still in the early stages of fintech development.
However, with more than 20 million population is a very attractive market for many PDL players from the EU, Russia, and Asia. PDL business to the Sri Lanka market was introduced only in 2018.
The country’s mobile internet subscriptions are growing 5 % annually with the total number of 10 million users market has a huge potential.
What makes your service attractive to your clients?
We are delivering the fastest and easiest access to a financial product for the people of the island. Our products are designed for real people. We are offering a simple and seamless experience, a low barrier to entry, educational support, and innovative data collection and analysis to deliver positive results.
Despite strong competitors being in the market, we’ve gained our popularity quite rapidly. We are open-minded and trustworthy towards our customers what they are highly appreciated. It gives our brand high market recognition.
What makes Sri Lanka clients special? For what purposes do they most often take loans?
Our customer base is rapidly growing month by month and more than 50% of customers are using our service repeatedly. We provide loans up to 200 EUR with an optimal tenor of 30 days for our clients.
The most popular purposes of the loans are device purchase, education, gifts, repair of car, repair of “tuk-tuk”, home supplies, etc.
How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect the Sri Lanka market?
Sri Lanka is one of the most Covid-19 impacted South Asia countries. Already for more than 8-month the country is still closed for tourism, which is one of the main GDP drivers for the island. Despite that new government has shown the ability to restructure the economy and, after a severe downturn, has managed to achieve significant merchandise export figures of more than 1 billion per month in the last 3 months. It gives confidence that the country will be able to recover in a relatively short time, and there are huge reserves for economic growth.
To provide stable economic growth Fintech will be playing one of the main roles.
How do you forecast your company will develop in 2021?
This Covid-19 time allowed us to evaluate our processes, improve internal procedures and improve the software. We believe that 2021 will be a year of rapid growth in terms of sales and profit.
You are Latvian. How did you decide to relocate from Latvia to Sri Lanka? How did you adapt to a different culture, a different life in a country far away from home?
I have extensive experience in banking. I used to work abroad leading and opening representative offices of the Bank in Ukraine and CIS counties. I’ve been living with the idea to relocate to more distant countries for a couple of years – for expanding my professional experience, and finally, this opportunity came. Latvian market became boring for me. I’m still young, and I wanted to use this opportunity.
I came to Sri Lanka without any defined expectations. I came to discover a new horizon for me. Living in Sri Lanka for more than a year already, I can confidently say that I like local people, nature, food. I’m just missing entertainment, such as opera, theatre, basketball and Ice Hockey.
The greatest joy and satisfaction for me are my teammates in Sri Lanka who believe in progress in the country and with whom I do not doubt that we will achieve great results.
About the company
Cash X has used Aventus Group’s knowledge, experience, and FinTech solutions to successfully launch its operations in Sri-Lanka. The company Cash X is established on August 30, 2019.
Cash X is an online lending platform where borrowers can apply for instant short-term loans by filling up an online application. Approval can be finalized in a few minutes, and the borrower can get funds in his/her account in no time.
Cash X’s target is to cater to exceptional service for the people who need funds for more urgent requirements, and Cash X’s competitive fee structure makes the company special for its clients.
Company website https://cashx.lk/en/.
