Go Zayaan, one of the fast-growing OTAs in the country, introduced a new travel loan product yesterday, a personal loan that can be used for travel purposes, in collaboration with IPDC Finance.
From now on, travelers can finance their trips and purchase travel-related services using Go Zayaan Travel Loan. The loan can be repaid in equal installment between 3 to 18 months using the salary account of the recipient. If a traveler repays the loan within 6 months, no interest will be charged on the loan. Currently, a traveler can avail up to BDT 2,00,000 as a travel loan. The loan remains valid for three months from the date of issuance, which means one can use the loan any time within three months from the issuance date.
Anyone who has been working for minimum one year with a monthly salary of minimum 20,000 can apply for the loan. Go Zayaan has partnered with IPDC EZ to launch the loan product. The loan could essentially make the lives of travelers in Bangladesh easier.
“As a data-driven company we always analyze data and in the process, we noticed that people within the age of 21-25 browse our website the most, even though the purchases are made mostly above that age range. We have launched this loan to cater to those young people and make their dream of traveling a reality,`` Says the founder and CEO of Go Zayaan, Ridwan Hafiz. “This will aid young travelers and corporates who don't have a credit card or enough credit limit to travel. And for frequent travelers like me, it can help free up my credit card for using abroad.”
The company says the process for availing the loan is simple and quick. In the existing process, it takes about three working days to approve a loan. Once someone applies for the loan, IPDC verifies and then approves the loan. Once the loan is approved, Go Zayaan reaches out to the customer and assists on purchases of travel products like tour packages, flights, and hotels. The loan will be activated once the purchase has been made. Multiple purchases can be made with this loan within 3 months from the issuance date.
Why this matters: From a consumer perspective, this loan can help young travelers and corporates who don't own a credit or don't have enough credit in their cards to travel with convenience. For a lot of frequent travelers, saving credit card limits for using abroad when they are traveling is very important. This loan can ease those challenges and provide more opportunities for traveling.
From an industry perspective, the move is a testament to the rising interest in travel and adventure in Bangladesh. With the loan product, Go Zayaan expands its market and solidifies its position as a travel brand that encourages traveling and empowers and enables travelers. It is also an indication that digital travel brands have a lot more scope to flex their influence beyond a certain vertical. If the product sees traction, it will validate the growing assumption of the unbundling of the financial services in the market.
There are many benefits for Go Zayaan in launching the travel loan, albeit for the first time in Bangladesh. One, it helps the company expand its market and attract more customers. Although EMI and similar facilities have always been available to customers in the past, travel loan is a first for Bangladesh and helps position Go Zayaan as an innovative travel tech brand. Three, it can open new doors for growth and future product direction for Go Zayaan.
For IPDC, the deal is simple. The NBFI gets an opportunity to play in a market that is growing pretty fast. At the same time, the collaboration allows IPDC to expand its IPDC EZ product beyond traditional verticals.
Go Zayaan, which was founded in 2017 as a travel aggregator platform, has been actively trying to position itself differently in an increasingly crowded, albeit of limited scale, OTA market in Bangladesh. The company, in the past, has introduced multiple innovative products new to the OTA industry. With the travel loan, it seems the company moves to untested water for the first time.
