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The work is done, the invoice is sent, and then comes the wait — and the chase for payments that are due every month. Lenda, a Bengaluru-based start-up by Rimainda Technologies, is trying to remove that discomfort entirely by offering an automated reminder system that follows up on delayed payments gently, tracks due date extensions, and builds a borrower’s repayment history into a score.
It achieves this using a platform most people already use in their day-to-day lives – WhatsApp.
The app is built upon two base factors – convenience and interactivity. “There was a need for a solution to remind people about the money we lent them or remind them about the fees for dance classes or tuition classes, through automatic messages. That was the primary thought behind building Lenda,” says Renjith Thomas, co-founder of the platform.
Even though reminder tools are not new in the market, Lenda does something that many similar platforms were incapable of, says Renjith. It creates automated reminders directed at the borrower. These are not static, one-way reminders like, for example, an SMS from a bank.
According to the founders, the messages are delivered as interactive prompts that allow the recipient to engage with the request, whether by confirming a payment, negotiating time needed, or raising a dispute. There is also an option to make partial payments, making it a comprehensive reminder tool.
“It’s social media in a way… the transaction stays there, like a follower and following. Once you make a connection, you cannot erase it… the proof exists forever,” Renjith notes.
One of Lenda’s features that stands out is the option to create a batch to collect payments from a group of people easily. Renjith says this option is particularly helpful for people who conduct classes or skill-based sessions, as it allows them to organise participants into groups, send collective reminders, and handle follow-ups or negotiations without needing to reach out to each person individually.
According to the company website, Lenda operates on a success-based pricing model – the user only pays for reminders when the payment is recovered. The easier the recovery, the less one pays. If there’s no recovery, there’s no fee. The app also has an option to add a late fee when a payment is delayed by the borrower.
Lenda also offers a mechanism called Lenda Score to gauge the credibility of users. Those who make payments on time receive a higher score and vice versa. This method works similar to the CIBIL score, but with the change that users can easily access it.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.
