This is how OkCredit is taking Digital India to the next level

Digitalisation has become a vital part of our day to day life. Be it a local food vendor or a supermarket, you can see everything going the digital way. Though when it comes to the finance sector for small businesses, owners somewhat suffer due to various reasons. Especially, when it comes to local vendors, it has been difficult for them to keep track of every transaction on a daily basis that causes problem during the settlement. With the same concept in mind, Harsh, Aditya, and Gaurav came up with the idea of digitalizing ledger books for a small scale business owner- OkCredit. Harsh Pokharna, CEO of OkCredit, was asked a few questions, let us have a look at what he said:-

1. What was the idea behind OKCredit? Journey of OkCredit

The idea was conceptualized when the founders decided to track their payments to a grocery store that they would frequently visit. And it took a long time when they had to settle their monthly dues. The settlement was made after verifying entries from ledgers, small notes maintained or from scribbled prints. They managed to convince the owner to track their payment through OkCredit. The owner had his own doubts and concerns. The co-founders spent time helping to generate reports daily so that he could verify with this Khata book. 
After a few days of trial, the owner soon added a few other customers. 

The next step was to convert the existing accounting system into a format compatible with OkCredit. One afternoon, they sat down with the owner, added all his customers and their balances to OkCredit. It took them 2 to 3 hours. The staff was instructed to use the app thereon. 

In a few days, the owner told them that the staff now preferred to use the app and began to record about 100 entries each day. The owner connected them to 3 other business owners. This was when they realized for the first time that they were onto something interesting this time around. 

Today we have more than 20 million downloads with 5 million plus active users. 

2. How do you think OK Credit would change the daily hassle for a small and micro businessman?

OkCredit is a mobile based solution; it enables SMEs to keep track of credit given to vendors, suppliers, and customers. It helps in the following ways: 

i) Monitor cash receivables from customers, vendors, and suppliers

The primary function of the Ok Credit application is to assist merchants in conducting comprehensive bookkeeping operations. For this purpose, we provide them with a dashboard where names and numbers of all their customers can be conveniently added. This personalized log, which can be accessed at the click of a single button, helps macro and micro- businesses maintain and monitor their transaction records while identifying the customers from whom credit is due.

ii) Saves time in maintaining a centralised record of a business' cash flow. 

By maintaining digitized details, we help merchants save both time and money. Macro and micro- businesses don’t have to struggle with updating their hand-written diaries anymore. Neither do they have to purchase expensive account books where debit and credit need to be logged separately. Instead, all they are required to do is download the Ok Credit app on their mobile devices and enter the necessary payment details in a safe, secure, and customized format.

iii) Send due payment reminders and collect payments. 

iv) Access to all reports & statements on any device, any time. 

3. How much did you grow as a business since 2017? 

We have raised $67 million in Series B funding by Light Speed Ventures and Tiger Global that took our total to $83 million. In 2019, our registered user growth was 120 times and total downloads reached over 20 million. Moreover, our user base is present in 2800 cities/towns in India and we are targeting people in more than 10 languages. I believe we have done well till 2019, and we are looking forward to penetrate a much wider segment and market in upcoming years.

OkCredit was launched in 2017, and it grew massively in two years. The app targets the small and micro businesses and helps them reduce the hassle of maintaining ledger in books. The company is expecting to grow bigger and better in future.