Now we begin again. We will secure 800 million Indian smartphone users as customers of the financial platform "True Balance."
Afinit CEO Lee Cheol-won emphasized the "next step" in an interview with ChosunBiz on the 18th. Although the company secured 120 million customers 12 years after entering the Indian market, Lee defined this not as the end but as the starting point and declared a "second stage of growth."
Lee said, "120 million is a meaningful number, but India has about 800 million smartphone users," adding, "How deeply we can penetrate this market will determine the outcome going forward."
Afinit is a platform company licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a nonbank financial company (NBFC). Its AI-based financial platform, "True Balance," is a daily-life financial app that bundles payments, lending and insurance into one. It especially targets the middle class with limited financial histories and the financially underserved as its main customers.
"India is the world's most populous country. Digital is growing fast, but finance is not keeping pace." That is why Lee chose India 12 years ago.
After majoring in international economics at Seoul National University and working for affiliates of Samsung and SK, Lee experienced firsthand how telecommunications and mobile infrastructure change consumers' lives. With the goal of implementing data-driven services in a high-growth market, he founded Afinit in India in 2014.
True Balance currently has about 120 million users. Monthly active users (MAU) are 7 million to 8 million, and the cumulative amount of brokered financial products reaches about 2.6 trillion won. Last year's provisional revenue was 165 billion won, and operating profit was 35 billion won, securing both growth and profitability.
The interview took place in Korea that day, but Lee's focus remained on India. Lee is running the business while traveling between Korea and India. Even the day before the interview, he carried out corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on the ground in India.
"India legally requires corporations to use 2% of profits for CSR. I think simple donations are meaningless. We provide education that improves access to and understanding of mobile finance. At the same time, we naturally promote the True Balance service."
Lee cited AI and data as Afinit's core strengths. He said, "To succeed in India's Fintech market, you must be able to assess customers without financial histories," adding, "We built an alternative credit scoring system (ACS) that uses AI to analyze unstructured data such as smartphone usage patterns and telecom and payment histories accumulated over more than 10 years to judge repayment capacity."
Afinit raised a 32 billion won Series E round last month. The pre-IPO investment is capital to further strengthen its push into the Indian market. Lee emphasized, "We have now entered the second stage of growth in India."
The strategy is clear. Go deeper into the Indian market. Expand partner financial institutions, and broaden the portfolio from payment-centered services to insurance and protection products. At the same time, advance capabilities in customer analysis and risk management based on Generative AI.
It is also pushing an initial public offering (IPO). Lee said, "We are aiming to list on KOSDAQ this year," adding, "As a technology company, we judged KOSDAQ to be appropriate." He added, "I want to help KOSDAQ grow into a technology company-centered market like the U.S. Nasdaq."
Afinit plans to expand into Southeast Asia based on the Indian market. Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are key targets.
Lee said, "We are formulating an entry strategy by comprehensively considering market size, growth speed and the level of financial infrastructure," adding, "We can expand the model proven in India globally." Lee also said, "We will not remain a company that succeeded in India," adding, "We will grow into a global K-Fintech company."