Traditional credit scoring, led by CIBIL and other bureaus, has been the backbone of lending decisions for many decades. However, with the undeserved and new-to-credit segments’ increasing need (and demand) for loans and the microfinance delinquency rate moving up to 4.3% in 2024, lenders are realising that single scores only tell half the story about […]
NBFC Software: What Lenders Need to Know About Pricing
Investing in NBFC software involves more than selecting the most suitable technology. It’s a strategic decision that has direct implications for financial performance, business agility, and regulatory readiness. Though the market provides a broad range of lending and compliance platforms, the pricing models tend to be opaque. What might initially look low-cost can rapidly inflate […]
Short-term vs Long-term Cash Flow Analysis: Complete Guide
Delinquencies in India increased by 44% among personal loan borrowers between Dec ’23 and June ’24. This highlights the importance of accurate and informed decision-making during loan approvals and, more importantly, the need to rethink how lenders approach cash flow analysis of individual and commercial borrowers. Although conventional lenders in India, including banks, typically rely […]
GST Returns vs Bank Statements: Cross-Verification Guide
Indi͏a is home t͏o over 14 million registered͏ GST taxpayers as of 2024, refl͏ecting the v͏ast ͏scope of businesse͏s c͏om͏plyin͏g with indirect ta͏x la͏ws. Meanwhil͏e, bank acc͏ounts in India have crossed ͏65 crore, s͏howing͏ the scale of formal fi͏na͏ncial transactio͏ns. For b͏usin͏ess͏es, two critical f͏inancial documents dominate de͏cis͏i͏on-making: GST͏ ret͏urns and bank ͏statements. GST͏ re͏turn͏s […]
Alternative Credit Scoring Using Bank Statement Analysis
Why is alternative credit scoring gaining momentum in India? Before exploring the reasons, let’s take a quick look at the context. Lenders disbursed over 383 million loans in FY 23-24 alone. Even though the financial market has shown this phenomenal growth, more than 160 million Indians remain “credit invisible”. In fact, 22% of Indian adults […]
Why Bank Statement Verification Fails in Digital Lending
Although technological advancements have revolutionised and streamlined bank statement verification, a few problems persist – fake or tampered bank statements. Manipulating or creating fake financial documents, including bank statements, has become easier than ever, owing to sophisticated editing tools like Adobe Acrobat. Today, around 5% of all financial documents submitted through online channels are tampered […]
RBI Deputy Governor’s Take on Sustainable Finance Risk
In 2024, In͏di͏a attracte͏d o͏ver $5.1 ͏billio͏n in green finance, becoming the sec͏ond-largest fund͏i͏ng hub for c͏limate-͏related ventures, just behind th͏e͏ U͏S. Ye͏t, risks lurk beneath the o͏ptimism. Accordi͏ng t͏o R͏B͏I Deput͏y Governor M͏. Rajeshwar Ra͏o, sustainable finance often ca͏rries higher risk costs.͏ The ͏sh͏ift to ͏green in͏vestm͏ents ͏can͏ ͏strain borrowers with operational costs, unpredictabl͏e […]
Major Document Lending Challenges Facing Fintech Companies
Despite showing promising signs of revitalising Indian lending, the challenges faced by fintech companies are by no means insignificant. These generally include a combination of a complex regulatory framework, evolving operational guidelines by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and most importantly, document-heavy processes. From Know Your Customer (KYC) documents and income proofs to property […]
Early Warning Signals: Common Credit Appraisal Mistakes
In 2023, India’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stoo͏d at͏ o͏ver ₹6 lak͏h crore. Muc͏h ͏of͏ this is blamed ͏on late detection ͏of credit stress. Ac͏cording to the RBI’s Finan͏c͏ial St͏abili͏ty Repo͏rt, early detecti͏on mecha͏nisms could hav͏e prevented the accumulation of bad loans. Yet, many lenders s͏ti͏ll s͏truggl͏e with setting up robu͏st early warning signals in […]
The Lender’s Guide to Corporate Loan Document Hierarchy: Critical Papers for Approval Decisions
India’s corporate credit ecosystem has seen remarkable growth in FY 2024–2025. Here are a few figures that support this trend: The total outstanding bank credit to business (including industry and services) increased to ₹82.73 lakh crore in March 2024, with a 16.3% year-on-year growth. Corporate loans to large enterprises grew by 7%. The retail loan […]