A Muthoot Finance branch in Mumbai sits on a quiet side street, next to a hardware shop and a grocer. As Bloomberg reported, customers enter through a sliding metal grille into a tightly secured branch, where staff conduct transactions behind glass partitions. The jewellery is tested on a stone and with acid, then locked in a vault whose doors open remotely from head office. The entire transaction takes less than an hour. No credit history is required.
One customer was Sandarsh, a 27-year-old driver in Bengaluru. In 2023, he borrowed about five lakh rupees against half his family’s gold at 1.25 per cent monthly interest—a rate he said was cheaper than the State Bank of India. “It’s much easier to borrow from Muthoot,” he explained. He invested the money in a biryani catering business, but the business failed. He repaid the loan. Repaying borrowers reclaim their pledged jewellery; defaulters risk having it auctioned.
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