BASIC Home Loan: Revolutionizing India's Secured Lending with a "Phygital" Automation Engine
In a digitized world, getting a home loan in India remains a surprisingly manual and anxious process. While personal loans can be approved in minutes, a mortgage still takes weeks of paperwork, physical property checks, and a lack of transparency. Atul Monga, the Founder of BASIC Home Loan, identified this "secured lending gap" while working as an investment banker in Hong Kong and Singapore. Today, his platform is India's first automated hub for mortgages, using a unique "phygital" model to empower 10,000 agents and process over ₹3,000 crores in monthly applications.
Monga's journey is a masterclass in market-led innovation. An IIT Delhi graduate who spent years advising global fintech giants on their IPOs, he returned to India in 2015 with a simple advice from a friend: "What's happening in China now will happen in India 10 years later." After successful stints at Rubique and PolicyBazaar, he launched BASIC in 2020. By combining a digital credit policy with a massive offline fulfillment network, Monga is proving that even the most complex financial products can be democratized through the right mix of technology and human empathy.
The Mortgage White Space
In India, the unsecured lending market (personal loans, business loans) is hyper-crowded. However, the $300 billion mortgage market remains largely ignored by tech platforms because it requires physical intervention. BASIC Home Loan fills this white space by digitizing the credit policies of 70+ banks while leveraging a network of agents to handle the "last mile" physical documentation.
The Genesis: From Investment Banking to the Last Mile
Atul Monga's background is one of high-end corporate finance. Helping banks and insurance companies with M&As and IPOs across Asia provided him with a unique bird's eye view of the financial ecosystem. But it was the sight of thousands of people migrating back to their homes during the 2020 lockdown that triggered the idea for BASIC. "People were walking to their homes in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities because they couldn't afford a house in the metro," Monga reflects.
He realized that while India's top five states account for 70% of all mortgages, the "affordable" segment in smaller towns was starved for credit. Traditional banks struggled with the unit economics of small-ticket loans, often waiting until the end of the year to buy "books" from small housing finance companies to meet their 40% **Priority Sector Lending (PSL)** targets. BASIC was born to be the efficient, tech-enabled intermediary that bridges these God-fearing, low-income customers with the capital sitting idle in larger banks.
"A home loan is the biggest commitment you take in your life—your marriage might not stay for 15 years, but your mortgage will. We treat our agents like doctors; if a customer can't trust the advice, they won't spend a minute on the platform."
The "Phygital" Model: Solving the Impossible Digitization
Monga is candid about why 100% digital home loans don't exist in India: the lack of a centralized property database. To check if a property has legal disputes or even physically exists, someone has to visit the court and the site. BASIC's approach is to digitize the "Front-End" and the "Credit Policy" while keeping the "Fulfillment" human.
The BASIC Fulfillment Engine
- Lead Capture: Customers are sourced via digital marketing, influencers (CAs and property dealers), and a new "Mortgage Gateway" for builders.
- Digitized Policy Matching: BASIC has digitized the credit policies of 70+ banks. The system matches the customer's financial and property data to the right lender in seconds.
- Agent Assignment: A local agent (mapped like an Uber driver) visits the customer's home to complete physical documentation.
- Real-Time Tracking: Customers see step-by-step progress in the app, with comments from both the agent and the bank's system.
- The Commitment: A "login to sanction" rate of 75%. If they can't get you a loan in two tries, and you get it elsewhere, BASIC pays your first EMI.
Building the "Mortgage Gateway" for Bharat
One of BASIC's most recent innovations is its direct integration with builders. Just as a website uses a payment gateway, a builder now uses BASIC as their Mortgage Gateway. By handling all RERA and bank clearances for new projects, BASIC ensures the builder gets their revenue booked faster while providing the customer with a seamless, at-home loan experience.
This strategy has allowed BASIC to scale to 10,000 agents across 30 cities. These agents aren't just salespeople; they are chartered accountants and financial advisors who have found a new revenue stream through the platform. By creating 10,000 indirect employment opportunities, BASIC is not just a fintech company—it is a social impact engine driving the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana vision of "Housing for All."
BASIC Home Loan: Scale and Impact (Jan 2026)
- Application Volume: Processing ₹3,000 - ₹4,000 Crores of applications monthly.
- Reach: 10,000 Agents across 30 major cities and 650 districts.
- Efficiency: 75% Login to Sanction rate—the highest in the industry.
- Cost to Customer: 100% Free of cost for homeowners and builders.
- Lending Partners: Tied up with 70+ Banks and HFCs.
Future Vision: The Complete Home Solution
Looking ahead, Atul Monga doesn't want to be just a broker. BASIC is already running pilots for a Home Setup Marketplace, offering furniture, modular kitchens, and cleaning services. The ultimate vision is a 360-degree journey: "A customer comes with their income and locality; we get the loan, help them buy the property, and finally set up their home."
Furthermore, the company is experimenting with a Banking Correspondent model (FLDG) where they take on proportional risk for profiles that are currently ignored by the market. If successful, this will lead to BASIC becoming its own Housing Finance Company (HFC), completing the transition from a tech enabler to a full-stack financial institution.
Founder's Wisdom: Lessons in Bravery
Be Brave: You might have 100 problems in front of you. Start by solving one or two. People will join you and help solve the remaining 98. Just start the mass rolling.
Trust the Signal: The signal-to-noise ratio is lowest when people are paying. We only build what we know the market (the banks) will value.
Focus on Social Impact: In India, entrepreneurship is no longer a fallback for the jobless. It is a supported ecosystem where you can solve national problems like housing affordability.
The Meaning of a 15-Year Dream
For Atul Monga, a home loan is more than just a financial product—it's a 15-year dream. By serving "₹500 million worth of dreams" every month, BASIC is proving that Indian technology can solve the "messy" reality of physical property markets. As he reflects on his transition from a Hong Kong investment banker to a grassroots entrepreneur, his message is clear: "Be brave, go out and market, and people will join you to solve the problems of Bharat."
As BASIC Home Loan continues its expansion into Tier-3 towns and new product categories, it stands as a beacon of transparency in an industry that desperately needed it. In the world of Indian secured lending, Atul Monga is ensuring that "Housing for All" is no longer just a slogan—it's an automated reality.
About the Guest
Atul Monga is the Co-founder and CEO of BASIC Home Loan. An alumnus of **IIT Delhi** (2009), Atul spent over a decade in global investment banking at **Credit Suisse** and other financial institutions across Hong Kong and Singapore. He served as a Vice President at **Rubique** and **PolicyBazaar** before launching BASIC in 2020. A recognized thought leader in proptech and fintech, Atul has been honored with the BW40u40 title and the ET Social Entrepreneur '24 accolade. He is passionate about using technology to drive financial inclusion and transparency in India's affordable housing sector.
BASIC Home Loan is India's first automated platform for secured lending, specializing in affordable home loans for middle and low-income households. By combining a digitized credit policy with a massive "phygital" network of 10,000 agents, BASIC provides a transparent, at-home loan experience for thousands of families across India. The company is backed by top-tier investors, including Ashish Kacholia, Gruhas, and Venture Catalysts, and is on a mission to digitize the entire home-buying journey.