Equifax Launches Household Combined Credit Report for the Microfinance Segment

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 20, 2023: Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited (ECIS), a leading credit bureau, today announced the launch of the Household Combined Credit Report for the Microfinance segment. The report eases the processes of Microfinance loan underwriting by enabling easier assessment of the credit capacity of an applicant based on the total household. 
Previously, lenders could only view the reported income and aggregated equated monthly installments (EMI) obligations of individuals. To make assessments at the household level, lenders still needed to pull multiple reports for each household member and aggregate them to understand the household position. With this product, the manual process faced by lenders on a day-to-day basis is addressed, providing a holistic solution to aid Microfinance credit decisioning.
“This solution is designed to help Microfinance lenders responsibly expand consumer access to credit by providing a more comprehensive financial view of a total household for a fuller picture of of credit history and risk,” said Mr. Nanaiah Kalengada, Manager Director Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited and Country Leader, India and MEA. “This unique product is designed to significantly save bandwidth for our clients and provide a seamless customer experience.”

With a single enquiry lenders can extract a comprehensive report of the household, which includes the applicant and up to five household members. Applicant details will be pulled via a hard enquiry, while household member information will be pulled through a soft enquiry. The result is a detailed report summarizing household income, total household EMI obligations, and the credit exposure of each member of the household - including income, total credit exposure and default indicators. 

The Household Comprehensive Credit Report adheres to the Master Direction (Regulatory Framework for Microfinance Loans) of March 2022 on assessing the household income and loan repayment obligations before the issuance of new Microfinance loans. The definition of a household per the Master Direction is an individual unit composed of a husband, wife and their unmarried children. 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: 
Contact Deepti Jha at Deepti.Jha@equifax.com