India's CreditVidya finds a place in Inclusive Fintech 50 list

CreditVidya, India’s leading big data-based credit assessment firm, has been included in the Inclusive Fintech 50, a list of the world’s top early-stage fintech firms driving financial inclusion. The Global Fintech 50 award is funded by MetLife Foundation and Visa Inc, with support from global nonprofit Accion and World Bank Group member IFC. Global Fintech 50 stands out for its exclusive focus on early-stage fintechs driving financial inclusion, and rigorous selection criteria that provide adequate depth to serious investors. 

Speaking on the development Marianne Mwaniki, Head of Social Impact at Visa Inc said, “Existing research indicates that investment capital has largely overlooked early-stage and inclusive fintechs in several markets. This group of winners makes it clear that there are high-potential startups with viable products and business models – and they’re ready for investment.”

Sarah Willis, Director of Financial Health & Inclusion at MetLife Foundation said, “Inclusive Fintech 50 demonstrates that there are lesser-known fintechs able to reach underserved populations with appropriate financial products. We want to support startups that are addressing the holistic needs of these target segments with the ultimate goal of improving their financial health.”

Expressing happiness over the achievement of the company Abhishek Agarwal, CEO & Co-Founder of CreditVidya commented, “Our vision of delivering affordable credit to the last mile would not have been achieved without the cooperation and support of policy and regulatory bodies and lenders in India. We are fortunate that the government is making huge investments in building digital infrastructure, such as IndiaStack, upon which we can innovate. Many large banks and NBFCs here also been extremely enthusiastic about partnering with us, and share our belief in doing well by doing good. They are open to ideas and experimentation, whilst keeping in mind transparency and building trust. Nothing could be more rewarding - both personally and professionally - than to have our efforts recognized on a global scale. It’s been a journey full of learning, but also one that’s just begun." 

Large banks and financial institutions depend on credit bureau data and income surrogates to assess credit risks. As a result, 3 billion people globally are denied access to formal credit. The majority of this segment consists of first-time borrowers with no credit history, primarily low-income groups, the self-employed or those who cannot produce collateral.

To address this vast challenge, CreditVidya has worked on innovations on two fronts. It developed a robust, cash flow-based underwriting model (patent filed) to assess the risk of first-time-borrowers. Alongside this, it worked with lenders to make the entire lending journey a ‘smart’ and digital one. This brought down the cost of operations significantly - enough to enable them to offer small ticket-size loans. This two-pronged approach has allowed CreditVidya to enable the profitable penetration of affordable credit to the last mile. 

Today over 55 banks and NBFCs are integrated with CreditVidya and has completed over 25 million assessments in under three years. Lenders are able to increase loan approval rates by up to 25% by adding ‘creditworthy’, first-time-borrowers to their portfolio, without affecting delinquencies.