Study abroad loan options: Interview with Mr. Ajay Bohora, Co-founder and MD, HDFC Credila

With the increase in the cost of education, education abroad is becoming a big burden on families. A large part of the family income and saving goes into facilitating proper education to the children. Education loans come as easy options for parents and students towards solving their financial trouble. HDFC Credila offers loans to students interested in pursuing higher education both in India and abroad. Careers360 spoke to Mr Ajay Bohora, Co-founder and MD, HDFC Credila regarding the loans and options available to students. Read the full interview below.

Q: What are the education loans options you offer to students interested in pursuing higher education?

A: HDFC Credila offers a flexible product with a customer-centric & convenient process.

Doorstep service: We offer all customers the convenience of an education loan 'Home-Delivered'. We also provide door step services for the entire loan process to all its customers.

Flexible repayment terms: we offer flexible repayment options wherein the students can pay back the interest during their studies.

^*T&C apply

100% loan of educational expenses with no margin money required: Our loan options offer 100% tuition fee without charging any margin money.

Flexible Co-borrower terms: Most banks require a guarantor from the immediate family and reject a proposal in the absence of a guarantor from-the immediate family. For us, any relative can act as a guarantor for loans disbursed by HDFC Credila.

Loan sanction before admission: In some cases, HDFC Credila provides loans even before the admission is granted to a student.

Multi-city co-borrowers accepted: Most loan providers do not accept co-borrower away from their branch limit. Whereas HDFC Credila coordinates with multi-location co-borrower and gets the file sanction and disbursal done.

Occasionally, we also offer benefits like reduced airfare for our customers, online banking facility and a few other benefits which would help a student adjust to a foreign country.

Q. What are the factors which are taken into account while deciding loan amount and what is the maximum loan amount?

A: A number of student credentials affect the amount of loans available. We do a holistic check on multiple parameters while evaluating ease case.

• Academic credentials of the students
• Country of higher education
• Details of the institute/college, specialization and course the student wish to pursue
• Career opportunities and career plans of the student after the given studies
• Credit histories and other details of the applicant and co-applicants

Lastly, details of the property/collateral security, if any is being offered as collateral security also plays an important role in the decision

Q. What is the procedure to apply for the loans and the documents required to apply for the loan?

A. Once the online application is filled, our service agents offer door step service to clear queries and pick-up the documents. Post evaluation of the documents, money is disbursed for the sanctioned cases.

We recommend the students and parents start the process of financial planning early and keep all documents in order. This helps them focus on the admissions and not worry about the finances at a later stage of admission finalization. Student-friendly approach of the organization reflects everywhere, right from application to disbursement of the loan. Facilities like online application, hand-holding through the process of application, customized loan solutions and timely sanctioning & disbursement make our loan process easy and convenient.

Q. Do the banks require any collateral for such loans and what are the payback options for the education loans?

A. HDFC Credila gives weightage to the student's past academic track record, entrance test scores, future school/institute/university's reputation and career opportunities & offers loans with collateral security and also loans up to Rs 35 lakh without collateral security. We offer a longer payback tenure of 10 years to students who have applied for loans to smoothen the transition of the child from campus life to corporate life. This way they can start their earning and professional lives with positive credit histories that help them to take other loans in future.

Q. Is there a requirement for presenting a guarantor to avail the loan?

A. Yes, there is a requirement of a co-borrower to avail an education loan. The co-borrower should be an Indian citizen who would agree to co-sign and execute the loan agreement and other documentation. The-guarantor should promise to service the interest in the moratorium period comprising of the study period and grace period and in the event of the student's inability to repay the loan would repay the installments of the loan and/ or provides the collateral security.

Currently, HDFC Credila has funded thousands of students, studying 1000+different courses, in 2100+ Institutes, across 35 countries.

Source: Career 360