Money Basket: Building a Trust-Led Financial Marketplace for India's Evolving Credit Needs

India’s lending landscape is becoming increasingly diverse as banks, NBFCs, fintech companies and financial intermediaries expand access to credit across retail and business segments.

Digital onboarding and technology-led processes have made borrowing faster, but choosing the right lender and structuring a viable proposal can still be challenging, particularly for MSMEs, self-employed professionals and property buyers.

This has strengthened the role of finance marketplaces that can combine lender access with informed financial advisory. Playing a key role in this evolving ecosystem is Money Basket, a financial services marketplace founded in 2015 by Manohar Basavaraj Koujageri, a professional with over two decades of experience spanning FMCG, banking, lending and entrepreneurship.

Starting as a one-person venture, the company has grown to more than 15 branches and around 70 on-roll employees, while developing an extensive network of banks, NBFCs and business associates.

Money Basket today facilitates home loans, business loans, mortgage loans, MSME finance, project funding and other credit solutions. From an initial focus on housing finance, the company has expanded its portfolio with the objective of becoming a one-stop destination for diverse financial requirements.

Building on Deep Lending Expertise

Money Basket’s evolution is closely connected with Manohar’s professional experience. He began his career in FMCG, working with organizations such as Nirma and Henkel, before transitioning to financial services with Birla Home Finance. His career subsequently led him to DHFL, where he held significant responsibilities across South India.

At DHFL, Manohar oversaw approximately 278 branches and more than 100 service centres across the South Zone. The region handled monthly business volumes of around INR 1,000–1,200 crore, giving him extensive exposure to lending operations, credit distribution, customer behaviour and large-scale team management.

In October 2015, he translated this experience into his entrepreneurial venture, Money Basket. The company began from a modest single-room setup and gradually established a presence across Karnataka.

From handling around INR 100 crore of business during its early phase, Money Basket today facilitates approximately INR 1,500 crore annually. According to the company, its lending book size stands at approximately INR 22,000 crore.

Beyond business volumes, Manohar considers long-standing relationships a key measure of the company’s progress. Several employees associated with Money Basket during its formative years remain with the organization, while its ecosystem has expanded to include banks, NBFCs, builders, brokers and other partners.

From an initial focus on housing finance, the company has expanded its portfolio with the objective of becoming a one-stop destination for diverse financial requirements

Manohar Basavaraj Koujageri, Director

Turning Financial Complexity into Informed Choices

Despite greater access to financial products, navigating India’s credit market can remain complicated. Borrowers often approach lenders with predetermined preferences without fully understanding differences in credit policies, eligibility criteria, property requirements or lending structures.

Money Basket addresses this challenge through an advisory-led model. Before recommending a lender, its team evaluates factors such as the borrower’s financial position, funding requirement, repayment capacity, business profile and property details. It then identifies the bank, NBFC or product that aligns more closely with the requirement.

“The company’s capabilities in credit assessment, documentation, legal considerations and lender policies also enable it to structure proposals before submitting them to financial institutions.

This can provide borrowers with greater clarity on the feasibility of financing while helping lenders receive proposals better aligned with their credit parameters”, shares Manohar Basavaraj Koujageri.

This advisory element becomes particularly relevant for MSMEs and self-employed borrowers, where understanding the underlying business can be as important as reviewing financial statements. Money Basket therefore emphasizes not merely securing credit, but directing customers towards appropriate financing structures.

Transparency remains central to this approach. The company seeks to provide customers with an upfront understanding of possible lenders, funding quantum and applicable terms, while continuing to support them after disbursement when service-related issues arise.

Where Technology Meets Personal Advisory

Technology has been another important pillar of Money Basket’s operating model. The company adopted mobile applications, digital devices and online loan login processes relatively early in its journey. It has also created an in-house digital team with capabilities spanning software, digital operations, design and web functions.

As lenders embrace online applications, OTP-based verification, digital documentation and technology-enabled disbursement, Money Basket continues to align its processes with these systems. The objective is to reduce turnaround time, improve coordination and make the borrowing journey more convenient.

Yet, the company does not view technology as a substitute for human expertise. For MSME, self-employed and property-backed cases, personal interaction, business visits and property assessments can provide context that purely automated processes may overlook.

Its model consequently combines digital efficiency with personalized advisory - a balance that Manohar believes is critical in India’s heterogeneous lending market.

Expanding the Financial Ecosystem

Having established its presence across Karnataka, Money Basket is now looking towards a wider national footprint. The company already handles select proposals outside the state, including in Hyderabad and Chennai, but plans to establish local teams and branches as it expands its retail operations into new markets.

It is also evaluating co-lending opportunities, with an ambition to participate more directly in funding solutions over time. Complementing its lending business is Property Basket, a vertical designed around the natural intersection between property transactions and financing. The initiative is currently being developed primarily in Bengaluru and select markets.

For Manohar, however, the longer-term opportunity goes beyond geographical expansion. He believes financial intermediaries can play a larger role in identifying credible entrepreneurs, industries and underserved borrower segments whose businesses may not always fit conventional lending templates.

By bringing together credit expertise, lender relationships, technology and personalized advisory, Money Basket aims to widen access to appropriate financing while supporting entrepreneurship and business growth.