Equifax Launches a New Microfinance Risk Score

Mumbai: Equifax India, registered as Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited (ECIS), today announced the launch of a new MFI Risk Score, which is the only credit score in the industry that will enable MFI lenders to evaluate the creditworthiness of borrowers in a more holistic manner.

“Microfinance has an important role in enabling access to credit to the needy in the financial inclusion program” said KM Nanaiah, Managing Director, Equifax Credit Information services Ltd. and Country Leader, Equifax India and MEA. “The MFI industry is facing new challenges due to Covid-19 and lockdown. Given this scenario, we have developed MFI risk score using past credit information of the customer such as tenure, sanction amount, balance along with the previous payment history on the loans availed. The score is an excellent predictor of delinquent behavior both on existing and new loans.”

Using local data and global analytics expertise, the Equifax MFI Risk Score has been built to meet the needs of our MFI members. Equifax MFI Risk Score predicts the likelihood of a consumer becoming seriously delinquent (60+ days past due) within 12 months of scoring. The score development involved segmenting the population into 5 segments and around 5000 variables. The score ranges from 300 to 900.

Over a decade of presence in India, ECIS has brought many innovations in data and analytics to the Indian lending space. It is now a full service credit bureau offering its services to all segments of the lending industry – Retail Banking, MFI and Commercial.