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Mumbai-based digital lending start-up Kissht has been awarded an insurance distribution corporate agency licence by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
With the licence, the firm can now start distributing multiple insurance products to consumers through its various retail and franchisee channels.
According to Kissht CEO Krishnan Vishwanathan, the company will sell life, health, and general insurance products alongside its main business of loans.
“For instance customers who opt to buy mobile insurance or extended warranty via our more than 10,000 retail merchants will get insurance cover for product financed via Kissht,” Vishwanathan told the Economic Times. “This can be a strong proposition for us in this space.”
Kissht has partnered with several insurers, including Go Digit General Insurance, HDFC Life, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, ICICI Prudential, and ICICI Lombard to distribute their products through its platform. The entire insurance cycle, from purchase to claims, will be done using Kissht’s mobile application.
Kissht has a network of 10,000 retailers and over 3,000 franchisee partners providing lending services across India. Vishwanathan said that with the insurance industry growing by around 20% due to low penetration in India, it will be the company’s “next big target.”
