MobiKwik Xtra suspends ‘anytime withdrawals’; draws flak from users

After a crackdown on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), MobiKwik’s Xtra investors are facing troubles with withdrawals. The issue appears to have been triggered by the change in the withdrawal policy by the platform’s lending partner Lendbox. The change, however, was made without any prior notice, according to some users, who highlighted the problem on X.

Many users on the microblogging platform also alleged that Xtra also transferred their investment to other borrowers without their knowledge. This appears strange as the new direction by the central bank doesn’t impact investment made by users.

As mentioned above, the halt of anytime withdrawal is likely based on RBI’s master direction which forbids p2p lending as an investment product with features including tenure-linked assured minimum returns and liquidity options.

MobiKwik’s Xtra allows users to earn up to 14% return on their investment. The app claims to have disbursed more than 300,000 loans worth Rs 7,373 crore to date.

As per the RBI master direction, a lender is not allowed to invest more than Rs 50 lakh in a P2P platform and the maximum investment amount for a single borrower is Rs 50,000.

“Due to the amendment of the P2P NBFC master directions issued by the Reserve Bank of India on August 16, 2024, Lendbox has restructured this product which has resulted in the stoppage of anytime withdrawal among other changes. Note that MobiKwik only acts as a channel partner for Lendbox,” said a MobiKwik spokesperson.

“Customers will receive principal and interest, as repayments are made by the mapped borrowers. This amount will be available for withdrawal on the 12th of every month. They will be able to see the expected repayment schedule on the MobiKwik app in the next few days, added the spokesperson.

Several users of BharatPe’s 12% Club, another p2p lending platform, also took to social media (X) to highlight the issue with anytime withdrawals. In July, ET reported that BharatPe has slowed down the process of onboarding new customers for 12% Club.

A media report also said that onboarding by p2p lending platforms has declined by more than 90% since the RBI diktat. Platforms like Liquiloans have already stopped onboarding new users. LenDenClub, Faircent, 13Karat, and CRED Mint are some of the leading P2P lending platforms in India.