India's first and largest AI-driven digital financing platform ZestMoney said on Wednesday it witnessed 100 per cent increase in educational technology loans on its platform over the past two months.
While online learning has been gaining popularity even otherwise, the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 has accelerated the demand like never before, it said.
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.
ZestMoney said over 57 per cent of the applicants for upskilling programmes are from tier-3 markets like Wayanad, Vellore, Udaipur, Tawang and Uttarkashi. Besides, there has been 30 per cent increase in loans applied for by women compared to pre-COVID numbers.
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 specialised model has been able to predict consumer shift, making it a low-risk business for us," she said.
Chapman said courses in data science, machine learning, software engineering, management, business intelligence and visualisation emerged as popular options. Full-stack development and backend engineering were also highly sought after programmes on the platform.
There has also been a massive boom in the K-12 segment. With kids having time at home and parents worried about supplementing school education, courses like robotics, coding and critical thinking have found many takers.
( With inputs from ANI )