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First-time customers are emerging as a huge catchment area for retail finance, but dangers lurk in the nooks and crannies, reports Raghu Mohan

- Raghu Mohan

Is India on the cusp of a tectonic shift in retail credit, which the financial services industry can tap into for decades to come? According to a recent study by TransUnion, a Chicago-based consumer credit reporting agency, 31 million Indian consumers debuted with credit products through the first nine months of 2022, over and above the 35 million that did so in 2021. Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1994) accounted for 42 per cent of fresh credits, and Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012, according to the Pew Research Centre and the US Census of 2022) came in next at 29 per cent.

This audience, known as new-to-credit (NTC), or those with no credit history, has always existed, but unlike earlier, lenders now have the technology to reach out to them. What we are seeing is the emergence of NTC as a big catchment area for retail finance (and retailing in general). This explosive growth, coming at the tail-end of the Covid-19 pandemic, may even be an indicator of a virtuous demand cycle emerging for India Inc.

While it may still be some distance away, Rajesh Kumar, managing director and chief executive officer of TransUnion CIBIL (a TransUnion group company), says that "our study shows that by further empowering this segment with timely and customised credit opportunities, institutions can help fulfill their aspirations while driving profitable business growth, strengthening customer loyalty, and supporting economic development."