Indian FinTech ZestMoney, an AI-driven EMI financing platform, has witnessed some interesting trends during the three-month lockdown triggered by the COVID19 pandemic. The Bengaluru-based company said that it has seen a spike in Education loans on its platform. Founded by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman in 2015, ZestMoney is one of the fastest-growing consumer lending fintech companies in India.

While online learning has been gaining popularity even otherwise, the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 has accelerated the demand like never before. With more free time available, people are increasingly embracing professional courses to upskill and stay relevant in their careers, especially at a time when the uncertain economic outlook has impacted jobs across sectors.  Edtech companies have come to their rescue, making available a plethora of options accessible to consumers from the comfort of their homes, the company said in a release.

Courses in Data Science, Machine Learning, Software Engineering, Management, Business Intelligence, and Visualization emerged as popular options. Full Stack development and Backend Engineering were also highly sought after programs on the platform.

Lizzie Chapman, Co-founder, and CEO of ZestMoney said, “Affordability now being a critical factor when it comes to credit, the demand for EMI financing options is at an all-time high. Even in these uncertain times, we have been able to cater to the demand with our early bets on Artificial Intelligence and data mining giving us a definite edge. Our specialized model has been able to predict consumer shift, making it a low-risk business for us. The 100% increase in Edtech players on our platform is a validation that our partners also see that value in us.  We expect this demand to continue.”

Chapman further added that ZestMoney foresees an increased adoption of digital financing in the coming months as the fintech industry continues to play a crucial role in reviving the economy by offering reliable and transparent access to credit. “The early signs look quite encouraging,” Chapman said.

Besides, ZestMoney also saw people with high CIBIL scores (650+) applying for EMI loans, signaling a demand even from premium customers. Demand from smaller towns was also high with over 57% of the applicants for upskilling programs were from Tier-3 markets. Cities like Wayanad, Vellore, Udaipur, Tawang, Uttarkashi especially witnessed an increase in applications. There was a 30% surge in female applicants.

As consumers look for reliable access to credit, ZestMoney has seen a 100% increase in the number of Edtech players on their platform. The company has been able to emerge as the preferred choice for partners by offering fully automated approvals which are some of the fastest and highest in the industry for this category.

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With a lockdown to combat the deadly Coronavirus in place until 3 May, students and professionals have a lot of time on their hands. In order to make productive use of this time, several pupils are looking for resources to upskill themselves. After identifying this need of students, various platforms have come forward to offer free online courses that learners can take during the lockdown.

One of the most popular subjects that are being opted for, out of the free online courses, is artificial intelligence. While students will still have to pay for advanced courses, platforms are offering online courses on artificial intelligence for beginners for free. Therefore, those who wish to gain basic knowledge on AI and its applications can take these free online courses on artificial intelligence during the lockdown.

Harvard University’s CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python: This course is for beginners who want to learn to use machine learning in Python. The self-paced course is 7 weeks long and will cover graph search algorithms, reinforcement learning, machine learning, artificial intelligence principles, and so on. Interested students can enroll for this course on the official website.

Great Learning offers Introduction to Neural Networks and Deep Learning: This intermediate skill level course requires learners to have a prerequisite knowledge on Python, linear regression, logistic regression, and basic algebra. The course consists of 15 hours of video content that covers various aspects of neural networks such as loss functions, batch normalization, hyperparameter tuning, deep neural networks, tensor flo and so on. Those who wish to enroll for this course can visit the Great Learning website for more information.

IBM AI Engineering Professional Certificate by Coursera: Students who wish to master fundamental concepts of machine learning and deep learning can undertake this course. There are six courses being offered under this professional certificate namely machine learning with Python, scalable machine learning on big data using Apache Spark, deep neural networks with PyTorch, etc. For more details about this course and to enroll for the same, interested students can visit Coursera.

AI for Everyone: Master the Basics by Edx: This course by IBM deals with learning about artificial intelligence (AI) by understanding its applications. The self-paced four-week course aims to provide a basic understanding of what is AI, its applications and use cases and how it is transforming lives. Interested students can enroll for this course on the Edx website.

Elements of AI by Reaktor and the University of Helsinki: This free online course can be taken by anyone interested in AI as there is no complicated math or programming involved. The course spans across 6 modules and 30 hours, and provides a gentle introduction to the basics of artificial intelligence. Those interested in taking the course by Reaktor and the University of Helsinki may visit the official website for more details.

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