Vihang Patel.

Chapter III · Trust and access

Finaxar

Regulated lending across four markets.

Merchant data could support instant credit decisions. Larger lines brought the work back to documents and review.

Autonomy is earned per decision, and depends on the stakes.

Move the decision boundary with better evidence

Finaxar’s cloud lending platform used merchant data from partners including Lazada and Stripe to make instant credit-line decisions. Larger lending decisions needed evidence beyond the data available through platform APIs. Bank statements and financial documents brought extraction and human judgment back into the process.

That changed how I thought about automation. The amount at risk and the evidence available belonged in the same decision. A fast decision on a small line did not settle how to assess a larger exposure.

As co-founder and CEO, I held operating and P&L responsibility. Functional heads and country leaders ran technology, product, risk, sales, finance and people. Finaxar operated in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Malaysia: four markets. The organisation reached a peak of 100+ people across five countries, including the India development centre. I was CEO until January 2021, then Chairman until July 2022.

Evidence and outcomes

Public announcements document the leadership team, the Visa collaboration, the Lazada partnership and the Vietnam bank partnership.

Company recognition

Published sources