INTRODUCTION

In the recent years, credit card usage among college students has increased
dramatically. This rise in the number of students who use credit cards and have credit
card debt has raised concerns that these students are uninformed of the long-term effects
of significant debt. When additional debts, such as student loans, are included in, the
problem gets even worse.

Buying on credit is a common occurrence. Credit was not an option years ago; if a
person did not have the money for a transaction, it was just not possible. Credit is now
accessible to practically everyone who wants it, particularly college students. In the
credit card business, college students have emerged as an increasing wealth segment.
Credit card firms have taken advantage of this fast-developing category in recent years
by building up booths on university campuses and forming relationships with
institutions in exchange for exclusive rights to advertise their credit cards. These
businesses have enticed students with free t-shirts, Frisbees, food, and cash.

Credit cards may bring a lot of benefits to college students if they are utilised
appropriately. Credit cards may be a handy method to pay, a beneficial tool for learning
financial responsibility, a resource in the event of an emergency, a way to build a strong
credit history, and a way to acquire future credit access. However, if credit cards are
abused or misused, the drawbacks can have serious financial implications.

Credit's convenience may persuade students to spend more than they can afford.
Excessive credit card debt and missed payments can harm students' credit scores,
making it more difficult to acquire credit in the future. Furthermore, students with little
or no financial expertise may be unaware of the cumulative effect of interest rates on
the amount of debt owing. Inexperience with credit and a lack of personal financial
understanding are likely to put certain students at a higher financial risk of graduating
with huge, perhaps unmanageable debt burdens.

College students are appealing to credit card firms because, while their present income
is low, they have the potential to earn considerably larger earnings in the near future.
Some parents insist on their children getting credit cards before they start school in case
of an emergency or to develop credit, but their children sometimes have different views.
Furthermore, the college student lifestyle provides several possibilities to utilise credit

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cards – both as a convenience and as a short-term loan – for things like emergency
vehicle repairs, weekend trips, and online shopping. Credit cards have become a way
of life for today's college student as the credit card business has expanded to include
them.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In the recent years credit cards are becoming a growing trend among students
as it is instant money without any hassle. Most of the students get their first credit card
while in college. It is important to study what is the usage and benefits availed to
students by having a credit card. Also given the increasingly complex financial market
that consumers face, it is critical to investigate how the current generation views and
understands money. Measuring financial knowledge could reveal more about how well
today's college students are prepared to make important financial decisions. So, with
this background an attempt has been made to study the effectiveness of credit facility
availed to students with reference to mobile application Slice Pay taking into
consideration some important factor that may affect student finance.

RESEARCH QUESTION

1. Is credit available to students irrespective of their income levels?

2. What are the factors that make students users opt for these kinds of platform
like Slice Pay for credit facility?
3. How does student user repay back the credit amount within the specified
time limit?
4. Are student users aware of credit scoring system and its long-term impact?
5. For what purpose do student users utilize the credit amount availed to them
by platforms like Slice Pay?
6. Does credit benefit students at a young age without stable income?

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OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of the proposed study are:

• To know how students manage their finances.

• To understand for what do students utilise the credit amount availed to them.
• To identify the sources through which the students repay back the credit amount
and EMI’s on time.
• To learn what makes students opt Slice Pay rather any other financial sources
available.
• To know the additional benefits availed to students by using Slice Pay other
than getting credit.

HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

On the basis of the study on previous literature published in the area of study
the following hypothesis were developed on the basis of which the research study was
conducted:
• Students lack the necessary financial knowledge to effectively manage their
funds and make important financial decisions.
• Students are easily exposed to unsecured loans, which is prone to misuse of
funds.
• Fintech businesses lure students into a debt trap by charging interest rates
that are multiples of what traditional banks charge.
• Students are unaware of their credit scores and the consequences of having
a low credit score on their future prospects.
• Authorities such as colleges and the government do a rather poor job of
protecting students from slipping into debt traps.
• Students often end up having a huge debt on their shoulders once they
complete their studies which makes it difficult for them to pay back with a
short period of time with cumulated interest.

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METHODOLOGY

The research design selected to be used in this study is descriptive research. The
number of respondents considered for the survey is 100. The sampling technique used
in this study is Convenient Sampling. This study is confined to respondents from the
resident and non-resident students of Madras Christian College.

PRIMARY DATA

The primary data was collected with the help of self-developed questionnaire to
make a study on the credit facility availed to students.

SECONDARY DATA

As per requirement and availability of data, secondary data has been used in
study but to a limited extent. These are collected from the magazines, journals,
newspapers and internet. Various libraries have been visited to collect significant and
important data.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

• The focus of the study is limited to only 100 respondents which could have
limited us from deriving meaningful conclusion.
• The use of Google forms to collect the response from the sample makes it
difficult to ascertain the authenticity of the data collected.
• The time frame is limited to draw proper inferences. Nevertheless, the
observations do provide meaningful directions for further research.

SAMPLING DESIGN
Sampling design provides a framework about the population of the survey, the
technique used for sampling that allows the surveyor to select the sample from the
population.

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POPULATION
The population for the study covers the students who have been consumers of
micro lending platforms exclusive to Slice Pay.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
A sampling technique is nothing but the process used for selecting the sample out
of the population. In this study, the sample is selected using convenient sampling.

INCLUSION CRITERIA
Data collection was restricted to people fulfilling following criteria:
1. Respondents should be studying in college who fall between the age group
of 18-24
2. The respondents must be having a certain degree of financial independence
and must be taking the day to financial decisions by his/her self. This is to
ensure that respondent is under free will and is making decisions for his/her
self.
3. Respondent should use of the micro lending platform Slice Pay for the
purpose of easy credit.

SAMPLE SIZE
In this study 100 complete questionnaires were received, thus meeting the
required number which is recommended by the guide in conducting research on a niche
population.

CHAPTERIZATION OF THE STUDY

• Chapter 1 deals with Introduction of the study.

• Chapter 2 contains Review of Literature.
• Chapter 3 deals with the Profile of the study area.
• Chapter 4 includes Analysis and Interpretation.
• Chapter 5 consists of Findings, Suggestions and Conclusions.

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CONCLUSION

The research was conducted in the period of April and in that period the
questionnaire was distributed directly and also through social networking sites to the
respondents.

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SLICE PAY

Slice Pay is a fast-growing fintech company in India that has revolutionised the
country's student financing market. It was established in November of 2015 by Rajan
Bajaj and Deepak Malhotra. Slice Pay is based in Bangalore and now operates in
Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Vellore, and Mumbai, among other locations in India.

Menials were the company's first customers, and Slice Pay was built with them in mind.
It has made credit available to the general public through a simple method that does not
need a thorough understanding of financial terminology. Slice Pay caters mostly to
students and millennials, offering credit limits of up to $60,000 in the locations listed
above.

Slice cards, sometimes known as Slice Super cards, are zero-fee cards that may be used
for both online and offline purchases. Slice super cards have established themselves as
a serious competitor to traditional credit cards. You may use them to make fast
payments to e-wallets like PhonePe, Google Pay, and others.

Slice also claims to provide its members up to 2% cashback on every transaction. These
cards are aiming to reimagine the economic experience of the general public. Slice is a
zealous unicorn finance start-up that reached a valuation of $1 billion on November 29,
2021.

Slice offers the longest interest-free periods to its customers. Because the organisation
works with cardholders in complete transparency, it has proven to be a highly beneficial
factor in obtaining confidence and recommendations.

SLICE - MISSION AND VISION

Slice is on a mission to ease access to credit in India. The company is looking

to change this by helping the students get credit options to buy their books, or other
relevant products like laptops and mobile phones, which they can again repay in
monthly instalments.

The goal of the team of Slice is to build a transparent, modern, and simple financial
platform for the Indian youth community.

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 SLICE – TARGETED MARKET

Slice is aimed towards college and university students, as well as young

business colleagues, who are frequently turned down for traditional credit cards. Slice's
mission is to make financial products more accessible to young people. Furthermore,
freelancers, entrepreneurs, and other individuals frequently desire to enjoy the benefits
of possessing credit cards. Slice was created in the first place to make financing easy.
Slice clients are on average 22 years old.

SLICE - BUSINESS MODEL

Slice's business strategy is based on subvention payments from retailers like as

Amazon and Flipkart for no-cost EMIs. It also considers interchange money from credit
cards, interest income from EMIs, and other factors.

Users can get the following information from the Slice cards:

• Payment’s data on a daily basis

• Understanding the expenditure pattern
• Expenses on a regular basis
• Recommendations to convert dues to EMIs (if only facing difficulties in paying
back the amount)

SLICEPAY FEATURES:

• Slice provides a virtual card for online purchases and a physical card for all offline
purchases.

• With Slice you may swipe them at any retailer to gain tremendous credit and incredible
deals. You have till the month end to pay off your credit amount without incurring any
additional interest.

• Slice helps you to choose from a variety of EMI options, with terms ranging from 2 to
18 months. When choosing a longer-term EMI option, the customer's profile is crucial.
12-15% of the credit amount would be the interest charged on the EMI for a period of
12 months. It would be in the range of 6-8 percent of the transaction amount for six
months. In a 12-month EMI plan for a 10,000 bill, the APR (annual percentage rate)

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 might add up to 1,500 to the total amount owed. It varied according to the customer
spending.

• Another excellent feature of the Slice app is that you can acquire emergency loans in
your bank account or E-wallet.

• The Slice app also offers a variety of merchant services that are favourable to
customers. Customers may get great deals from online food delivery services like
Swiggy and Zomato, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart, transportation
services like Uber, and entertainment services like Hotstar, etc.

WHY OWN A SLICE CARD?

• Students are increasingly using credit to fund their living expenses and education on
their own these days.
• For a student, one of the most important advantages of a credit card is the capacity to
support his/her education. Anyone can pay their semester tuition costs on credit and
pay them off later. In the form of notifications and reminders from your credit card
provider, it can assist in the development of healthy payment habits.
• During one's college years, one might learn how to budget and take on financial
responsibility. Understanding money at an early age may also be a valuable financial
lesson. Student will get to know to deal with financial crisis if they be financial
independent from college days.

WHAT ARE THE FEES FOR SLICE CREDIT CARD?

There are primarily two fees applied to a credit card, i.e., joining fees and annual fees.
Interestingly, Slice credit cards don't have any of these fees. In short, you will get this card
free of cost.

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SLICE CREDIT CARD BENEFITS AVAILED TO CUSTOMERS:

• Big Credit Limit: The most significant advantage of using a Slice card is the large credit
limit. You may receive a credit limit of Rs. 2000 to Rs. 10 lakhs with a Slice credit
card.
• 2% Cashback: When you use your Slice credit card to make a purchase, you will
receive a 2% cashback. Your monthly statement contains all of the information
regarding the cashback you've received and the total purchases you've made. You may
also look up information on the Slice Pay app.
• Weekly Deals: The Slice app updates weekly with new deals from major businesses
such as Swiggy, Blinkit, Nike, and others.
• No Fuel Surcharge: If you use your Slice Credit Card to fill your car, you will get a
maximum of Rs. 200 in your monthly billing cycle as a fuel surcharge waiver. The
gasoline transaction amount, however, should not exceed Rs. 4000.
• No-Cost EMI: No-Cost EMI is a typical yet important advantage of the Slice card. You
may use this function to make purchases from popular eCommerce sites like Amazon,
Flipkart, Myntra, and others, and have them converted into monthly EMIs.
Another fantastic benefit of utilising a Slice Card is that if you don't pay the due balance
before the threshold date, your outstanding balance is immediately changed to EMI.
• Lifetime Free: If you have a Slice credit card, you will not be charged any joining or
yearly fees. However, you must pay a one-time price of Rs. 500 if you desire a
replacement Slice card under any case.
• Refer and Earn: With the Slice credit card, you may earn money by referring others.
You will receive a Rs. 500 cash incentive every time you refer a Slice card to someone
you know. To get the Slice Credit Card, you can either give the referral link or share
the referral code with anyone.
• Simple Monthly Expense Tracking: The Slice mobile application provides a clear way
to track and manage your monthly expenses. In the event of an emergency, you can also
transfer money from your Slice Credit Card to your bank account.
• Wide Acceptance: The Slice card is now accepted on nearly all eCommerce sites in the
United States. You have the ability to utilise it as needed because it is accepted by over
99.95 percent of eCommerce retailers. Surprisingly, some foreign stores accept the
Slice Credit Card as well.

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• Split the Cost with Friends: If you wish to split the bill with your friends, the Slice
Card has a great feature that allows you to add comments and tags. This allows you to
keep information transparent and control your monthly spending. When determining
your monthly costs, take into account the notes and divide the amount among your
buddies proportionately.

CONCERN WITH SLICE CREDIT CARD

With apps like Slice, there are always certain risks. Before applying for a Slice Credit
Card, consider the following concerns.

• Data Security: Users' data security is always a big issue. Slice makes it quite
obvious how they use your personal information. According to Slice, your personal
information is solely used to determine your credit limit eligibility. Otherwise, the
Slice will never sell your personal information to a third-party company.
• High-Interest Rate: The automatic conversion of your outstanding amount into a
3-month EMI is a great solution for resolving your late payment problem. However,
interest rates are quite expensive, ranging from 12 to 15%.
• Negative impact on credit score: If you fail to pay your past-due invoices, your
CIBIL score may suffer. Most of the time, your declining CIBIL score will go
unnoticed. After utilising Slice Credit Card in the past, some customers have
reported this difficulty.
• Auto Balance Slicing: You don't have the choice to stop the slicing procedure if
you don't want to split your overdue balance into three months EMI. All you can do
is pay the bill before the deadline.

CHARGES ON SLICE PAY CREDIT CARD

When you are charged an additional amount, there are several factors to consider. The
details of the related fees are listed below:

• Cash Withdrawal: You will be charged 50 if you withdraw money from any ATM.
If you transfer money from an ATM, however, you will be charged 25.

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• Late Payment: If you do not pay the outstanding balance by the due date, the entire
amount will be converted to EMI. On the other hand, some charges range from 12%
to 15% of the outstanding balance.
• Additional Fees: With the Slice credit card, you get free delivery right to your door.
Before using such Credit Cards, every user should keep a few things in mind as a
result of these suggestions.
• Know Your Needs: If you are unsure about your expenses, it's critical to figure out
what they are and whether your income can meet them. Create a managed expense
from your source of revenue.
• Prioritize Needs Over Wants: Many individuals use credit cards like Slice Pay to
fulfil their desires, which is never a smart idea. Consider it in the event of an
emergency or to satisfy your demands. This will allow you to preserve your payback
funds and keep your CIBIL score in good standing.
• Know Your Expenses and Manage Them Effectively: Knowing your expenses and
managing them wisely is crucial if you have a fixed income source. Keeping track
of your expenditures is just one part of your financial journey. Instead, set aside
some money to save, which will help you attain financial independence in the
future.
• Read Terms and Conditions Before Applying for a Credit Card: Before applying
for a credit card, you should read the terms and conditions, whether you are using
the Slice credit card or another choice. Check the interest rates imposed in the event
of a late payment, the conversion of an outstanding amount into an EMI, and so on.
• Keep track of your credit score: Keeping track of your CIBIL score is a requirement
of any loan or credit card. Having a good credit score will allow you to take out
whatever form of loan you want in the future. You can also acquire a loan with a
low-interest rate if you have a CIBIL score.

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