Indian advertisers on Meta Platform get no-cost EMI for three months

Move designed to support their working capital needs; Meta to bear applicable interest payable to the bank, and give it as upfront discount to advertiser

Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook, today announced the option of no-cost EMI for advertisers in India, to support the need for working capital.

Meta Platforms said the new feature will allow advertisers to pay Meta for their advertising campaigns in easy, equated monthly installments over 3 months at no additional cost of interest to them. India is the first country within Meta where No Cost EMI has been launched.

“Meta will bear the applicable interest payable to the bank, and give it as an upfront discount to the business on its ad spends. Working capital access is a concern for many new and growing businesses in the country. With no-cost EMI billing, they can choose any amount between Rs 3,200 and Rs 5 lakh to convert to EMIs,” the company said.

Meta has previously announced the Small Business Loans Initiative, a programme that enables business loans for small business advertisers through third-party lending platforms. The scope of this program has now expanded to 19000+ pin codes across India, which is almost the entire length and breadth of the country, the company said.

It added, “This means that Meta advertisers from even the smallest towns and villages can now apply for collateral-free business loans from as little as INR 30,000 to as much as INR 1 Crore.”

The announcements come days after Meta reported its first-ever yearly decline in revenue for the second quarter, announcing a 1 per cent drop to $28.8 billion. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the company's net income also fell by 36 per cent, landing at $6.7 billion for the second quarter.

The company also announced 24x7 chat support for advertisers in India at the Grow Your Business Summit, its annual event for small businesses. “With several small businesses in India taking to digital and the Meta platforms to reach their customers, they need enhanced support to resolve their queries.” The users can visit the ‘support’ option on the Meta Business Help Center to access the support.

Said Ajit Mohan, VP and MD (Facebook India) Meta, said, “With these announcements, every advertiser on Meta in India, irrespective of their ad spends, has access to financial and service support, at the click of a button to unlock new growth opportunities. We hope that the initiatives that we have announced during Grow Your Business Summit will help small businesses achieve their business goals with greater flexibility and ease.”