Lenddo’s Cash-On-Delivery Fraud Fight

Lenddo, a FinTech startup specializing in credit scoring, is looking to combat cash-on-delivery (COD) fraud with the help of eCommerce companies.

The company’s CTO, Naveen Agnihotri, told The Hindu Business Line that Lenddo is participating in discussions with eCommerce firms about online verification and scoring solutions.

“We are looking to help eCommerce companies in India conquer COD frauds by offering our scoring, as well as online verification solutions,” Agnihotri said.

For eCommerce entities, COD fraud remains a big problem.

Lenddo said it’s estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the COD transactions in the eCommerce industry result in problems or fraud.

“Ecommerce companies are not lenders, but they would love to offer customers loans through a bank or NBFC at the exit point of the transactions. These eCommerce companies are now trying to dip their toe into some sort of assessing their customers from lending perspective,” Agnihotri said.

India seemingly has the perfect audience for driving online shopping with its more than 300 million active internet users.

But there’s one hitch creating a lot of friction with the eCommerce marketplaces that’s bigger than the delivery speed logistics: the fact that, as of last year, 80 percent of eCommerce transactions were paid out in cash upon delivery. And the fact that access to credit card remains slim, as a Wall Street Journal report said just 1.8 percent of those over age 15 have access to or have a credit card, underscoring that point.

According to Agnihotri, Lenddo is also looking to work with credit information companies in India to support a “combined” offering to clients — one using both previous financial history and nontraditional data.