Nilekani: Use Financial Data to Unlock Credit for Underserved
Nandan Nilekani urges using the Account Aggregator framework to bring micro-entrepreneurs and gig workers into the formal credit system via data.
Infosys Co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani has made a powerful case for leveraging India's Account Aggregator (AA) framework to bridge the credit gap for millions of citizens. Speaking at the SamvAAd 2026-India Open Finance Summit in Mumbai, Nilekani emphasized that the ability to monetize data streams can serve as a gateway to formal credit for those who lack traditional collateral.
Breaking the Asset-Based Lending Barrier
For decades, the Indian lending landscape has been dominated by asset-based models, where creditworthiness is tied to physical property or significant holdings. Nilekani argues that this model inherently excludes a massive segment of the population.
“Historically, lending in India was based on what assets you own. But a person does not own any assets. How do they get access to credit? They get access to credit by monetizing the data streams,” Nilekani stated. He highlighted that the AA system is designed to be an inclusive tool, allowing lenders to assess income flows and financial behaviors rather than just physical assets.
Targeting Micro-Entrepreneurs and Gig Workers
The vision is to bring various underserved groups into the formal financial fold, including:
- Micro-entrepreneurs and nano enterprises
- Gig workers navigating the modern economy
- Self-help groups and street vendors
- Self-employed individuals
Nilekani noted that by unlocking market access through initiatives like the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and credit through the AA framework, India can foster domestic growth and job creation at scale.
The Power of Digital Public Infrastructure
The scale of India's digital revolution provides a massive foundation for this expansion. Nilekani shared striking statistics regarding the current adoption of the country's digital public infrastructure:
- Aadhaar: Processes approximately 90 million authentications and 15 million e-KYC procedures every single day, covering 95 per cent of adult citizens.
- UPI: Handles roughly 750 million transactions daily, with a monthly active user base of 550 million.
- Account Aggregator (AA): Currently manages about one million consents and 12 million data pulls daily, reaching 20 per cent of the adult population.
The goal is to aggressively scale the AA ecosystem to cover more than 50 per cent of the adult population within the next two to three years.
Expanding the Data Universe
To truly revolutionize credit access, Nilekani suggested that the framework must move beyond basic banking data. He advocated for the integration of multiple diverse data sources to build a holistic financial profile for borrowers. These include:
- GST records and current account statements
- Income tax records and EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) data
- Small savings schemes and utility payment histories
- Livelihood-related information
“If you can increase the category of people who use AA and the use cases you get, you're going to create a dramatic explosion in the AA system,” he added, stressing that the endeavor should be to ensure every category of person finds a use case within the framework.
Nilekani also acknowledged the regulatory groundwork laid by the Reserve Bank of India, including efforts to improve interoperability among aggregators, the establishment of formal self-regulatory governance through Sahamati, and the development of sustainable fee models to keep the ecosystem thriving.