Decentro Integrates with SME Platforms like Pagarbook & Minko For MSME Finance

Decentro, one of India’s leading API platforms for banking integration, has recently integrated with multiple new-age SME-facing platforms, including Pagarbook, Simpel, SuperZop & Minko. This integration allows these new-age platforms to leverage Decentro's business banking API to enable MSMEs to digitize their operations and adopt a tech-driven approach to scale further.

Decentro aims to empower India's leading wholesale food, grocery, and retail category SME facing platforms, with its embedded API banking modules. Some key solutions and examples include enabling Kirana store owners with simplified QR/UPI payments, instant settlements for suppliers & agents, and most notably opening and linking business bank accounts directly via APIs. Further, Decentro also enables an embedded finance offering for availing credit by these SMEs via any NBFC that can be plugged in the backend again via APIs.

The company has achieved monthly break-even, witnessing close to 2M API-based transactions monthly with 20 - 30% month-on-month growth in the number of new platforms building on top of it.

Decentro enables these platforms to empower thousands of SMEs via financial products and simplify their end to end operations. Connected Banking also helps business owners seamlessly link their bank accounts directly for financial reconciliation, fetching bank balances, and even making their vendor and payroll payouts via these platforms.

On the announcement of these partnerships, Rohit Taneja, Founder & CEO, Decentro, said, “A digitally-empowered small business reports double the revenue projection than an offline small business. India’s $50 billion Fintech industry has the potential to disrupt the MSME by helping them embrace digital transformation. We’re thrilled to be taking a step ahead in building the next-gen fintech infrastructure with new-age SME-facing platforms, like Pagarbook, SuperZop & Minko. Connected Banking enables SMEs to utilize financial and banking solutions designed specially to suit their needs in a very native manner across these platforms. With this new partnership, we are looking forward to empowering SMEs with advanced solutions that simplify and automate their processes.”

PagarBook is a human capital platform that helps 8 million SMEs streamline complex financial and staff management record maintenance. Adarsh Kumar, Founder and CEO at PagarBook said, “Despite the fintech boom, Indian MSMEs continue to rely on archaic infrastructure to complete their financial transactions. We’re happy to partner with Decentro in simplifying digitalization for MSMEs. From instant payments, Reconciling Payments in Real-time, One-Click Account opening for Individuals and Consolidating Banking at One Place, Embedded Banking opens up a whole new opportunity for SMEs and Decentro acts as the one-stop provider for all BaaS integrations.”

Started in 2021, Minko aims to create an accessible credit line for offline retailers in India. Minko has already roped in 10,000 retailers and has worked with some of the notable distributors of brands, including Unilever, Parle Agro, Coca-Cola, and Haldirams, in half a year. The fintech platform now plans to work with 100,000 retailers & distributors by the end of 2022.

Sanket Shendure, Co-founder at Minko.app said, “We have seen the immense potential digital transformation can unveil for every business. To help retail business owners embrace every aspect of it, we need to build a simplified tech ecosystem that offers end-to-end solutions for all requirements. We’re happy to partner with like-minded companies like Decentro that will help us in our mission to bridge the credit gap for small business owners. Our partnership with Decentro takes us an inch closer to our goal of driving financial inclusion across India’s vast SME sector and also helps them leverage digital solutions that simplify their financial management.”

The announcement comes as the Indian government pushes MSMEs to embrace digital transformation. India has about 63 million MSMEs, of which 99% are small merchants. These MSMEs account for a quarter of India's GDP, offering employment to a significant segment of the workforce.

With the rapid adoption of Fintech products, these MSMEs can unlock a number of opportunities and scale their operations. This will further help India to add over $100 billion to the country's GDP in four years.