‘Chillr’ aims to disrupt banking in India

Read about an innovative mobile banking business here!

Formed by four  brilliant tech savvy minds in 2014,  Sony Joy,  Anoop Sankar, Mohamed Galib,  and Lishoy Bhaskar, Chillr boasts of more than 10 banking partnerships, processes, millions of transactions every month, growing at a phenomenal pace month- on- month. With a promise of safe and secure platform along with convenience, Chillr aims to become the most preferred mobile banking platform in India – peer- to- peer payment solution. In the last three years, Chillr claims to have grown into a leading brand in the mobile banking space with a marked differentiation from mobile wallets and offerings in the market.

Founder and CEO of Chillr, Sony Joy, narrates success story of Chillr to Baishali Mukherjee.

I was already part of the entrepreneurship landscape by the time I was in the 2nd year at Electronics and Communication from the College of Engineering, Trivandrum. MobMe, my first startup wireless was incepted in 2006. It was Kerala’s first student-incubated company that flourished into a leading player in the Indian mobile-internet industry with substantial interests in the telecom, banking and analytics space with over 120 employees today.

Capitalising on the big opportunity

In 2013 we ideated Chillr to help users re-imagine banking in India, with a clear differentiation from mobile wallets and other offerings in the market. The startup was incubated within MobMe Wireless Technologies in December 2013, and was spun off as an independent entity, Backwaters Technology, in December 2014. The idea behind Chillr came about when we got together and decided to come up with a way to make money digital. Banking customers have historically used net banking and mobile banking for high value transactions. We were focusing on creating the convenience of sending even a rupee as simple as sending a text message on WhatsApp.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Chillr is a friendly, multi-bank mobile app with a 360-degree payment experience. It links directly to one’s bank account and allows faster money transactions, like recharges, bill payments directly from the user account. Today, it is the fastest gateway for fund transfers, bill payments and recharges in India. Chillr’s USP is its strong partnerships with India’s leading and most trusted banks, deep integrations and a core focus on a seamless user experience.

Stellar growth

The market validation for us was clear as we garnered three million downloads, and monthly transactions close to Rs 500 crore in a very short span of time and raised $7.5 million in its Series-A round from the likes of Sequoia and Blume. We also have had stellar growth with no marketing spends and no cashback offers. We have maintained a healthy base of customers who come back to the app for a superior experience. Most of the customers download either organically or by word of mouth from users who have used the app.

Currently, we are a team of around 90 people. We never really planned hiring in advance. As and when we saw that there is a gap which a new person with new skill sets or perspective might be able to fill better than what we already have, we searched for that person at that time. From now on, our hiring plans will be aligned to our strategies.

Integrating UPI with the app

On April 8, 2017 we launched our UPI on Chillr. With this HDFC Bank, UPI will be available on Chillr, in addition to the bank’s mobile banking app. Chillr will now be available to users of all major Indian banks. We are delighted to collaborate with HDFC Bank to introduce UPI on our app. HDFC Bank is the best partner bank a Fintech player can get. Together, we aim to disrupt not only the payments industry but also revolutionize other banking and financial services such as credit, savings, insurance, investments and more.

The way ahead

Our vision is to become a one-stop banking app for all. The logical way forward is to offer a bouquet of services inside the app. Chillr will host a bunch of in-app services including flight, hotel and movie ticket bookings. Going forward, Chillr will also offer a suite of banking services that will cater to the entire spectrum of customer needs such as credit, savings and investment.

We will be raising a series B this year. The exact numbers are yet to be finalised but the funds will be used to fuel the next phase of growth with UPI. Till now we were limited to our 10 partner banks, but now with UPI we are open to customers from over 45 banks in India. Focus will be to acquire more users from across these banks and step into the digital banking services market and completely revamp the way people think about the common financial services like credits and savings. The team is also in talks with various banks and NBFCs to facilitate selling of financial products such as mutual funds, credit and savings instruments to all users in the most seamless manner.

Straight talk

The fintech sector currently is as promising and happening as it can get. The kind of speed at which things are moving has been unseen and unheard of. There are a lot of opportunities for innovation and change and above all the government as well as the public is open to these opportunities. Next two-three years will be bringing in a revolution in banking and digital payments. By 2020, the number of digitally banking Indians is expected to cross the 500 million mark. Many a things are ready to get disrupted. The key would be to figure out customer pain points, solve them faster than others, learn from your mistakes and re-iterate quickly wherever necessary.

In a cashless digital world, does the idea of innovative mobile banking excite you? Please share your views.