Consent-based access to bank and investment data is helping lenders assess new-to-credit borrowers and reach smaller cities, while planned interoperability could simplify the system further.
India’s Account Aggregator system is emerging as a potential bridge between formal lenders and borrowers who have long been left on the edge of the credit market, according to a joint study by CRIF Credit Information Services and Sahamati. The framework lets individuals and businesses share bank statements, deposits and investment data with financial institutions only after giving consent, giving lenders a fuller view of cash flow and income than they may get from traditional credit bureau records.
The report, “Consent to Credit: The Account Aggregator Impact Report”, suggests the model is already reaching borrowers who are often harder to assess through conventional checks. In loan categories studied by the researchers, AA-enabled lenders recorded a 28.5% share of new-to-credit borrowers in mid-sized business loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹25 lakh during the 12 months to June 2026, compared with 8.6% among lenders not using the framework. In personal loans, the figures were 9% and 3.8% respectively.
The findings also point to a stronger presence in smaller cities. According to the report, lenders using the Account Aggregator ecosystem showed a larger share of originations from Tier-3 and smaller locations in several product categories, reinforcing the idea that digital consent-based data-sharing can widen access beyond India’s biggest urban centres. Sahamati, which promotes adoption of the framework, says the model is designed to create a secure, consent-led data ecosystem that gives consumers more control over their financial information.
Regulators are also moving to deepen the system. The Reserve Bank of India said on October 7 that it plans to enable interoperability among Account Aggregators by December 2026, allowing users to share data through a single AA rather than signing up separately on multiple platforms. That step could make the process simpler for customers and more efficient for lenders, while broadening participation in the network, according to the central bank.
Even so, the report cautions against treating wider access as proof of uniformly better outcomes. It says the higher share of women borrowers in some AA-linked lending categories cannot be credited solely to the framework, and it notes differences in repayment performance across products. The next phase of growth, the report argues, will depend on expanding the types of financial data that can be used, improving participation across institutions and making digital consent journeys easier for customers who are less familiar with online tools.
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.
