How social media, typing speed, device OS and GPS location decides your loan credibility - ETtech

Akshay Mehrotra, co-founder of Pune-based EarlySalary, likes to share one of his favorite stories about how his one-year old mobile-based fintech startup recently rejected an online loan to a Bengaluru-based 27 year old IT professional. "She was earning Rs 60,000 a month and though she fulfilled the entire criterion to take a Rs 15,000 loan, we rejected it because of the boyfriend she was living-in with," explains Mehrotra, whose startup dispenses small loans to students and salaried professionals. How did EarlySalary make the connection? For starters, the boyfriend had applied for the same loan three days before the girl had, which EarlySalary had rejected because he was unemployed. Two, the startup's machine learning algorithm used GPS and social media data –- both of which the duo had given permissions for while downloading the app – to make the connection that they were in a relationship.