The Infosys co-founder says expanding consent-based financial data sharing could help lenders serve micro-entrepreneurs, gig workers and small businesses without conventional collateral.
Nandan Nilekani has renewed his pitch for India’s Account Aggregator framework as a way to bring more informal workers and small businesses into the formal credit system, arguing that wider use of financial data could help lenders judge borrowers who do not own traditional collateral. Speaking at the SamvAAd 2026-India Open Finance Summit in Mumbai, the Infosys chairman and co-founder said the system could be especially useful for micro-entrepreneurs, gig workers and other underserved groups that have struggled to access bank finance. According to ANI and WebIndia123, he framed the issue as one of turning digital data into a practical route to capital and growth.
Nilekani said the Account Aggregator network, together with the Open Network for Digital Commerce, is designed to do two different jobs: unlock financial data and open up market access. That combination, he said, could help small firms sell more, borrow more easily and scale faster. The broader aim, according to his remarks reported by ANI, is to support domestic growth by helping millions of entrepreneurs create jobs at a time when automation and global shifts are changing the labour market.
He also pointed to the scale of India’s digital public infrastructure as evidence that the country is already capable of running systems at national scale. In his remarks, reported by ANI, Aadhaar is processing about 90 million authentications and 15 million e-KYC checks each day, while Unified Payments Interface handles roughly 750 million transactions daily and has 550 million monthly active users. The Account Aggregator ecosystem, by comparison, is handling about one million consents and 12 million data pulls a day, with coverage of around 20% of adults, and Nilekani said he wants that to rise above 50% over the next two to three years.
The argument is consistent with Nilekani’s earlier comments on the same framework. LiveMint reported in December 2022 that he saw Account Aggregator as a way to let people securely share financial information with approved institutions, making loans possible even for those without a credit history or collateral. Moneycontrol and Business Standard reported in 2023 that he also viewed the model as cross-sectoral, with potential uses beyond finance in areas such as education, skills and healthcare. The Financial Services Department says the framework, introduced by the Reserve Bank of India in 2016, is built around consent-based data sharing, and Nilekani’s latest remarks suggested that expanding the range of data sources, from GST and current accounts to provident fund and utility records, could deepen its reach further.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
