Balance Hero: How Charlie Lee is Solving Credit for India’s Underbanked Next Billion

January 3, 2026 12 min read

Charlie Lee - Founder of Balance Hero (True Balance)

"It took me just five minutes to choose India." This bold statement from Cheolwon "Charlie" Lee, the Korean founder of Balance Hero, underscores the massive potential of India's financial ecosystem. From introducing "Hello Tunes" to Airtel in 2002 to building True Balance—a profitable fintech powerhouse serving the "next billion"—Charlie Lee’s journey is a masterclass in cross-border entrepreneurship and AI-driven financial inclusion.

While India has over a billion bank accounts, a significant portion of the population remains "underbanked." These are individuals with monthly incomes between ₹15,000 and ₹50,000 who have bank accounts but lack the credit scores required by traditional banks. Balance Hero is bridging this "credit gap" by using 10,000 alternative data points to underwrite loans for the Indian middle class, proving that finance for all is not just a mission, but a highly profitable business model.

The Underbanked Reality: Out of 1.4 billion Indians, only about 300 million have formal credit scores from bureaus like CIBIL. Balance Hero targets the "Next Billion"—the massive segment that earns a steady income but is ignored by the traditional financial hierarchy.

The Journey: From Ringtones to Recharges

Charlie Lee’s connection with India isn't new. In 2002, he was the head of Asian business for a US-based telecom services company that provided the now-iconic "Hello Tunes" service to Airtel. After founding his first venture, Access Mobile, in 2006, he witnessed the smartphone revolution of 2012-14 and realized that the "ecosystem of the phone" was changing people's lives forever.

In 2014, he founded Balance Hero. The initial product was remarkably simple yet essential: True Balance, an Android app that allowed prepaid mobile users to check their balance via USSD technology without dialing complex codes. "We started from balance checking because every prepaid user needs it," Charlie explains. "Recharging is the natural next step after checking your balance, and payment is the gateway to loans."

The Evolution of True Balance

Balance Check (2014-16): Solved the daily pain point of 1 billion prepaid users checking their remaining talk-time.
Recharge & Payments (2017-19): Leveraged the 3-4 billion monthly transactions in the prepaid market to build a payment gateway.
Digital Lending (2020-Present): Transitioned into a full-scale fintech provider offering small-ticket, short-term loans to the underserved.

The AI Engine: Decoding Credit Without CIBIL

The biggest challenge in lending to the "next billion" is risk assessment. If a user doesn't have a credit history, how do you know they will pay back? Balance Hero’s secret sauce is its AI-based underwriting model, which analyzes over 10,000 data points with user consent.

"A smartphone is basically a window into who you are," Charlie notes. By analyzing app usage patterns, handset models, and financial SMS data, Balance Hero can project income levels and job stability with surgical precision.

The 5 Critical Data Sets for Credit

Mobile App Usage: Distinguishing between users of entertainment apps vs. banking or e-commerce apps.
Handset Model: Projecting income levels based on the hardware tier.
Location Intelligence: Regular movement between home and work locations assumes a stable job.
Social Behavior: Frequency and regularity of communication over calls and SMS.
Financial SMS Data: Analyzing UPI transactions and bank alerts to determine cash flow.

The Small Ticket Revolution

True Balance focuses on what Charlie calls the "Smart KSI" (Small Ticket, Short-term tenure) loans. Their average ticket size is between ₹10,000 and ₹15,000. This strategy aligns perfectly with the shift in the Indian market: in 2017, digital loans under ₹10,000 were only 3% of the market; by 2021, that number exploded to 70%.

"Most Indians don't need a ₹10 lakh loan," Charlie emphasizes. "They need ₹20,000 for three to six months. By meeting this specific need, we solve the inclusion issue and build a massive business." This focus has paid off—Balance Hero turned profitable last year and has raised over $170 million in funding to date.

"India is a great country for startups. If you believe in your mission and your problem statement, you better not give up easily. Resilience and grit are the only single most important factors for entrepreneurs."
— Charlie Lee, Founder & CEO, Balance Hero

Leadership and the Power of People

Reflecting on his 17-year journey as a CEO, Charlie identifies people as the core of every success and failure. "Starting from your co-founders—who were my college friends—to every hire, one person makes a big difference," he says. He emphasizes that while the journey is often harsh and filled with "pains and difficulties," the mission of Finance for All provides the fuel to push forward.

Charlie’s Wisdom for Founders

Localized Vision: Deeply understand the culture you are serving. Localization is key to winning in India.
Mission-Driven Resilience: Don't just work for personal demand; have an independent area of your life tied to a larger mission.
Recruit for Character: The right people make the journey fulfilling and the business successful.
Focus on the Gap: Identify the billion people who are "underserved" rather than fighting for the top 10% already served by banks.

The Future: Profitability and Beyond

With a 121% increase in operating profit in 2024 and a strong revenue CAGR of 56%, Balance Hero is no longer just a "startup"—it is a mature financial institution. As UPI becomes more prevalent and more Indians enter the digital economy, True Balance aims to remain the primary financial partner for the Indian middle class.

"We finally found our product-market fit," Charlie concludes. By turning "Randomness" into a structured AI model, Balance Hero is ensuring that the "Next Billion" don't just have a bank account, but have the credit they need to level up their lives.

The Resilience Dividend: Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and regulatory shifts, Balance Hero's refusal to give up has resulted in a profitable venture that processed over ₹340 billion in loan executions in the first half of 2024 alone.

Key Takeaways

For Fintech Founders: Alternative data is the key to unlocking Bharat. Don't look for a credit score; look for behavior.

For Cross-Border Entrepreneurs: India is the best option for speed and scale. If you can localize your tech, the market is "bottomless."

For the Underbanked: Your digital footprint is your credit history. Using financial apps and maintaining regular transactions is the new way to build trust with lenders.

About the Guest

Cheolwon "Charlie" Lee is the Founder and CEO of Balance Hero (True Balance). A South Korean entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in the Indian market, Charlie is a visionary in the fintech space. Prior to Balance Hero, he founded Access Mobile and was a pioneer in mobile value-added services. Under his leadership, Balance Hero has become one of the few profitable Indian fintechs, serving millions of users through AI-powered financial inclusion.