Xiaomi India has stopped offering Mi Credit, the personal loan marketplace that it operated.
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Mi Credit
Through this it lent customers between Rs 5,000 and Rs 100,000 at comparatively low-interest rates.
However, the app apparently accessed users’ texts and call logs to look for transaction information and other details in order to determine their creditworthiness and get the required loan approved quickly.
It is no longer on the Play Store, and the third party service APKMirror lists the last update to the app as taking place in July.
The company’s financial services overall have been wound down.
Mi Pay
Mi Pay, a UPI app run by the company and launched in India in 2019, is also no more.
The app’s name has been removed from the website of the National Payments Corporation of India, where it was listed in July.
The service had 50 million registered users in India, and came pre-installed on phones sold by the company.
Company statement
A Xiaomi spokesperson said, “As part of the annual strategic assessment activity and as a response to enhanced focus on our core business services, we closed the Mi Financial Services in March 2022.
In a short span of 4 years, we were able to connect and support thousands of customers.
We are working with our partners and supporting our consumers during this process.
We will continue to bring [the] latest technology and innovation for all with our products and services in the future.”
Like some other Chinese phone brands, Xiaomi has been a target for tax authorities.
Rs 5,500 crores in the company’s Indian bank accounts were seized by the Enforcement Directorate in April.
ED accused the company of making illegal remittances via royalty payments to foreign entities.
The company has denied any wrongdoing and said it uses this money to make legitimate license fee payments to companies like Qualcomm in the US.
It has appealed the seizure at the Karnataka High Court.
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