Women Tracking Credit Health Increases 42 Per Cent, Says TransUnion CIBIL-WEP-MSC Report

Increasing numbers of Indian women are making it a point to keep a regular check on their credit scores, reflecting enhanced financial independence. According to its latest report, From Borrowers to Builders: Women's Role in India's Financial Growth Story, TransUnion CIBIL, NITI Aayog's Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), and MicroSave Consulting (MSC) report 27 million women borrowers checking their credit as of December 2024—42 per cent more than the 19 million in December 2023.

Anna Roy, Principal Economic Adviser of NITI Aayog and WEP Mission Director, emphasized financial independence and said, "Encouraging women entrepreneurship is one way of ensuring employment opportunities for women entering the workforce in India. It can also work as a viable strategy for accelerating equitable economic growth of our economy. Promoting women’s entrepreneurship could create employment opportunities for 150 to 170 million people while driving women’s participation in the labour force".

Gen Z Women at the Helm of Credit Awareness

Younger women, particularly Gen Z, are behind this trend. Gen Z women increased the number of women tracking their credit by 56 per cent year over year, and they represented 22 per cent of all self-tracking women in 2024. Millennial women also experienced a 38 per cent increase, and they represented 52 per cent of self-tracking women.

Bhavesh Jain, MD and CEO, TransUnion CIBIL, said, "The number of women self-monitoring their credit information report and score grew by 42 per cent, from 18.94 million in December 2023 to 26.92 million in December 2024. While this is an encouraging trend, this must continue for women to progress from being participants to leaders in India’s economic story. Borrowers can make better informed financial decisions by being vigilant about their credit status".

Business Loan Uptake Sees Major Growth

Though consumption loans continue to be the biggest credit product among women, business loan utilisation has increased amazingly. Women launched around 3.7 million new business loan accounts in 2024, the total disbursals at Rs 1.9 lakh crore—four times as many accounts opened by women borrowers in 2019. Business loans represented just 3 per cent of all the loans taken by women borrowers in 2024, however, despite this increase.

Manoj Kumar Sharma, Managing Director of MSC, emphasized the rise in financial inclusion in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. "The findings are striking. The number of women seeking credit has grown at a CAGR of 22 per cent since 2019, with 60 per cent of borrowers coming from semi-urban and rural areas. This underscores a deepening financial footprint beyond metro cities".

Credit Monitoring Leads to Better Financial Decisions

The report points to a definite linkage between financial behaviour and credit awareness. TransUnion CIBIL data reveal that 13.49 per cent of women monitoring their credit in a month have opened a loan account. Moreover, 44 per cent witnessed an increase in their credit score in six months.

Among the 90 or more days overdue loan payments, 17.45 per cent of the women saw their payment status upgraded within six months and 11.37 per cent of them became standard borrowers.

Bhushan Padkil, TransUnion CIBIL Senior Vice President and Head of Direct-to-Consumer Business, said, "By diligently making their loan repayments and benefiting from improved credit scores as a result of this behaviour, women are increasingly availing multiple loans to address their diverse needs. Lenders can leverage this payment data to identify and target credit-ready and creditworthy women borrowers, while also seizing the opportunity to provide support to those who may require assistance with repayment, thereby laying the foundation for long-term, trust-based relationships with their borrowers".

More Women in Non-Metro Areas Monitoring Credit

Non-metro women are more and more keeping an eye on their credit health. The quantity of self-checked women borrowers in non-metro increased 48 per cent year on year, as opposed to 30 per cent for the metros.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana contributed to 49 per cent of total self-monitoring women borrowers in 2024. The southern states topped the list with 10.2 million women who monitored their credit regularly, up by 46 per cent from the previous year.

Demand for Women-Focused Financial Products

With increased awareness of credit, women borrowers remain excluded from accessing credit based on credit aversion, bad banking history, and insufficient collateral. Origination of business loans by women went up by 14 per cent and gold loans by 6 per cent since 2019. Women borrowers were 35 per cent of India's business borrowers as of December 2024.

Bhavesh Jain highlighted inclusive products, stating, "Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach, including improving financial literacy, enhancing banking experiences, and creating more inclusive financial products and services. By doing so, we can ensure that women borrowers have equitable access to credit and the opportunity to achieve their financial goals".