Kolkata: Women are emerging as a significant force in the Indian credit landscape. A recent report by credit bureau CRIF High Mark has revealed that women borrowers account for as much as 27.6% of retail credit in India and their share is rising faster than that of their male counterparts. As Indian lending institutions try to increase the access of credit to different segments of society through better targeting using the tools of digitalisation, use of AI and data analytics or simply expanding physical reach, more and mor women feel empowered to opt for loans.

CRIF’s Credit Insights report shows that women borrowers have come out as one of the fastest-growing segments in retail credit. This segment is growing at the compounded annual growth rate of 14.2% over the past five years. This the report states is higher than the growth rate by male borrowers. Furthermore, the rise in active loans for women is taking place at double the pace of that of men. Incidentally, active loans are those repayment for which is still continuing.

Headroom for growth

The share of about 27.6% indicates that there is a lot of headroom for growth among women borrowers, pointed out experts. There are numbers which bolster the rise of women in the borrower landscape. Among new customers, women have been found to account for about 41%. This signals that more and more women are lining up as first-time borrowers. “This can happen only if more and more women feel empowered to approach a lending institution to ask for credit. It also means that they have assets to use as collaterals. Since the price of gold is rising rapidly, it could also mean that they are pawning gold to monetise their idle assets,” said Nilanjan De, director, Wishlist Capital and an investment strategist for quarter of a century.

Loan against gold

Most of the loans that women are taking are gold loans. According to reports, 43.5% of the total portfolio is attributed to loans by pledging gold as collateral. Next in line are home loans and education loans. The report also points to rapid rise in women taking for secured business loans. Obviously this signals a rise in the faster participation of women in business activities across the country.

Repayment habits

Any lending is mainly concerned with the repayment of loans. And on this score, women seem to score far better than men. The report states that the rate of non-payment of EMIs in women is about 2.8%, whereas it is at 3.3% for men. CRIF report also states that there is a higher share of women in the category with high credit score and low risk. Therefore, a lot of lenders think women represent an relatively under-tapped segment for delivering credit in the country.