MANISH JAISWAL writes on the firm’s Growth 2.0 strategy for selling to the underserved.Growth 2.0, for Magma Housing Finance, will be driven by the focus on the home loan business and the direct-to-consumer disruption, both of which will be backed by the ongoing digital transformation at Magma. Our Mantra ‘Go HL Go Direct’ focuses on business and distribution strategy, shifting focus primarily on home loans as a category, from loan against property. Business modelCurrently, we source maximum business directly through our own sales force rather than third party distributors. Our model focuses on how we reach our customers, how we fulfil their requirements through different products, how we service them, how we enhance customer experience and seek references, which shall take us to the next level of cohesive growth.On the home loan front, the business caters primarily lending to affordable housing, which develops and engages long-term customers. While lending, we keep the 4C at the core of our decisions – Customer, Collateral, Cash flow and Collection. The government is also enabling this segment by the Housing for All mission, which proposes to provide low-cost housing by 2022. Magma is elemental in achieving the Housing for All initiative. The development objective of Magma’s Affordable Housing Finance business will help provide access to sustainable housing finance for low-income households, to purchase, build or upgrade their habitat.Network buildingMagma’s other focus area is redefining distribution. We are building a deep distribution network since we need to reach out to customers residing primarily in rural or semi urban areas. We are collaborating with developers and government agencies to offer transparent schemes for the well-being of our end-consumers. The housing finance market in India, which has seen a strong growth in the last three to five years, has the potential to expand and include these borrowers who are insufficiently and even inconsequentially serviced by financial institutions. Leveraging collaborationOur customer is at the heart of all our advancement plans. To deliver a seamless customer experience, we are focusing on product innovations, process simplification, technology enhancements, people and training. There is also extensive potential for co-lending, collaboration with banks, non-banks and even our competitors to explore synergy. During this process, we would like to fully leverage the power of government schemes like PMAY and ensure that its benefits reach maximum eligible customers.Improving efficiencyGrowth 2.0 is not conceivable in the absence of digital transformation. Digitisation is at the centre of growth 2.0 for Magma Housing Finance. We are reinforcing the entire value chain – the process of acquiring the loan, credit appraisal, processing, and approval, to tracking your loan. API-driven technology, credit rule engine, machine learning and block chain – which will help us deliver to the customer a personal and exclusive experience. Technology will help us to improve efficiency, enhance productivity, and reduce turnaround time for timely delivery of our products and services. We have adopted a digital approach of inclusion and believe in balancing innovation and risk for digital financial inclusion.Culminating from this will ultimately be happy employees who are more productive and loyal. We are committed in creating an environment where the primary role of the management is to help the employees succeed by extending support and guidance.The Indian financial services industry is both, swiftly expanding and transforming. While the existing players are forced to transform their offerings by aligning with the changing customer behaviour and expectation, the introduction of new players – which includes small finance banks, payments banks, FinTechs, digital aggregator platforms, etc – is triggering a paradigm shift. Magma Housing Finance is striving to up its ante and capitalise from this evolving environment, while maintaining our legacy of strong risk management and corporate governance.About the author: Manish Jaiswal, Managing Director & CEO, Magma Housing Finance & SME Business, has 27 years of rich corporate experience, and joined Magma after a successful stint with CRISIL, where he was spearheading the businesses of Risk Advisory, Research and SME Ratings. Jaiswal has been an eminent member of the SEBI committee of Corporate Bonds and Securitization Advisory Committee (CoBoSAC) and RBI’s Committee of Revitalisation of Distressed Assets. He has also advised the primary pension funds of the country EPFO and PFRDA.