Pepper Advantage, a global credit intelligence company, has acquired Rieom.ai, a specialist AI-driven credit management software platform based in Pune, India. Rieom.ai’s flagship product is an AI/ML-driven predictive pre-payout credit approval tool that uses socio-demographic and profile-based analysis to assess loan application documents to identify fraud risks and other suspicious behaviour prior to credit approval.
The tool is a continuously learning platform that can support the credit risk assessment of over 60 different document types, from ID verification to bank statements and utility bills. Algorithm driven, it can be integrated directly into the loan originator’s credit management systems via API, providing a scalable, holistic, contextual and relationship-driven platform to evaluate loan application and portfolio risk analysis. The product also includes automated transaction monitoring and is vastly superior to the manual and individualised internal processes that commonly slow credit applications across India’s financial services sector.
Benefitting from modern technological architecture and a first-mover advantage, Rieom.ai has screened close to 700,000 applications and has processed over 2.3m documents. The company expects to continue its rapid growth as it currently has the capability to service a near limitless volume and range of document types. As a result, Pepper Advantage intends to expand its applicable market in India to include fintechs, microfinance companies, small finance businesses, co-operative banks, insurance and government institutions.
Pepper Advantage’s acquisition of Rieom.ai marks an aggressive expansion into the Indian market and is indicative of the AI-driven credit management model it plans to bring to additional markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the Middle East in the near term. The acquisition of Rieom.ai also brings significant product development opportunities as its technology is integrated into Pepper Advantage’s credit technology platform, which offers propriety data and analytics capabilities that can replace legacy credit management processes with an end-to-end solution accessible via API.
Commenting on the acquisition, Fraser Gemmell, Chief Executive Officer, Pepper Advantage said, “The acquisition of Rieom.ai rapidly expands Pepper Advantage’s addressable market in India and represents an AI-driven credit management model we will soon be bringing to additional high-growth countries. It also furthers our suite of cutting-edge technology and gives us the opportunity to add credit risk analysis to our broader platform, a growing priority in the market since the Reserve Bank of India highlighted rising instances of fraud in its most recent annual report. Our commitment to improving our data and technology capabilities is expanding Pepper Advantage’s client pool from traditional loan originators at financial institutions, to include the fast-growing non-bank lending sector, which is typically more reliant on third-party tech providers that offer plug-and-play solutions.”
Mukund Kulkarni, CEO of Pepper Advantage India said, “India’s macro-economic growth is being propelled by astonishing demographics. India became the world’s most populous country last month, with the population expected to peak at 1.7 billion in the coming years, which would be almost 50% greater than that of China. We expect the credit and financial services markets to expand in line with these demographic trends, with systems growth for loans currently tracking at 20% year-on-year, and retail and MSME disbursement expected to grow at 19% annually for a decade. Such growth means credit providers will need to leverage the data and technology we offer to deliver services efficiently at scale. This technology will drive financial inclusion in India’s rapidly expanding population by assessing credit worthiness without a credit score, which can be a barrier to entry for the unbanked.”
