- Indians accessing their own CIBIL Score and Report grew by 51% in FY23-24
- Self-monitoring consumers grew by 57% in non-metro regions from April 2023 to March 2024 as compared to 33% growth in metro regions during the same period
- 12% more commercial entities (MSMEs) tracked their Company Credit Report (CCR) for the first time in FY24
Mumbai : To provide comprehensive insights into the credit behaviour of self-monitoring1 consumers across India, TransUnion CIBIL today released its flagship report, Empowering Financial Freedom: The Rise of Credit Self-Monitoring in India, which indicates that approximately 119 million Indians have monitored their CIBIL Scores as of March 2024. The report shows that the number of consumers monitoring their credit profile grew by 51% year-over-year (YoY) in FY23-24, reflecting that 43.6 million more consumers are intentional about knowing their credit status.
The report also reveals that young people are spearheading the credit revolution in India, with 77% of the 119 million credit monitoring consumers being Gen Z2 and Millennials3. The report also shows that 81% of consumers who started self-monitoring their credit score within six months of opening their first credit product are from non-metro regions.
Commenting on the findings of the report, the Managing Director and CEO of TransUnion CIBIL, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, said: “India’s growth story gets a strong foundation with improved consumer awareness about credit management as revealed in this report which shows a remarkable increase in consumers self-monitoring their credit report and improving their CIBIL Score after accessing it. This rise in consumer awareness, especially among youth, women and non-urban consumers, is a promising indicator of sustainable credit growth and increasing financial inclusion. It bodes well towards accomplishing our country’s USD 5 trillion economy goal in the coming years.
“TransUnion CIBIL is committed to empowering consumers and driving awareness of the importance of a good credit score for availing financial opportunities easily and at better terms. Our solutions help create economic opportunity for millions of people in India, and we take our responsibility to drive consumer awareness about credit management very seriously. As India’s pioneer credit information company, TransUnion CIBIL works constantly with our member credit institutions to strengthen the credit information ecosystem for the public good.”
The report shows a 70% growth in the share of women tracking their CIBIL Scores during FY23-24. This is an indicator that women are not only understanding credit management better, but they are also becoming more credit conscious and prioritizing financial planning. Over 72% of new credit monitoring women hail from beyond metros.
High credit visibility leading to wider financial participation
The report states that consumers are becoming more credit conscious, with results showing that 46% improved their credit profiles (CIBIL Score4) within six months of checking their CIBIL Score and Report, higher than the 41% seen in non-monitoring consumers. This indicates that credit conscious Indians are exploring more credit products and are also improving their scores to avail lower interest rates, better offers or even a higher credit amount.
The report also shows that within three months of checking their score, self-monitoring consumers showed an about 6X increase in opening a new credit line, when compared to non-monitoring consumers. Data shows that 44% of consumers are monitoring their CIBIL Score and Report at least four times within 12 months.
The report highlights that self-monitoring consumers tend to apply for credit opportunities after reviewing their credit history. Post-monitoring, the ownership of two-wheeler loans grew by 50%, consumer durable loans by 41%, gold loans grew by 38% and credit cards grew by 14%. However, personal loans decreased by 16%. Further location-based insights indicate that more new credit accounts were opened by self-monitoring consumers from non-metro regions.
Self-monitoring business entities maintain a good credit profile
The report also reveals that commercial entities checking their Company Credit Report (CCR) for the first time have grown by 12% (YoY) in FY23-24, and 47% of entities that self-monitor, maintain a commercial rank (CIBIL MSME Rank5) between 1 and 3, where a CMR-1 score represents the least risky profile. The report also shows that within three months of checking their CCR, 32% of commercial entities applied for a loan, with commercial vehicle loans, bank guarantees, long term loans, unsecured business loans and auto loans being the leading types of commercial tradelines availed by self-monitoring entities.