Sachin Seth, Regional Managing Director – India and South Asia, CRIF India, uncovers the factors that make the organisation a growth catalyst for India’s banking and financial services industry
As India strengthens its position as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, the role of advanced digital infrastructure and analytics driven decision making has become essential. Lending continues to be one of the foundational pillars of India’s growth, and the broader lending ecosystem, fuels financial inclusion and resilient credit expansion.
CRIF is the promoter company of CRIF High Mark which is one of India’s leading credit bureaus and is among only four entities licensed by the Reserve Bank of India. Over more than a decade, CRIF has supported the evolution of India’s credit landscape by building robust digital capabilities, expanding data intelligence, and strengthening analytical foundations that empower lenders, telecom operators and insurers. Along the way, CRIF has also expanded into next generation decisioning and software solutions that help financial institutions operate at scale with speed, precision and transparency.
For more than 20 years, CRIF has been a trusted partner to India’s banking and financial services industry. Today, CRIF supports more than four thousand institutions across banks, NBFCs, fintechs and other lending organisations. In the past year alone, close to 40.9 million first time individual borrowers and more than 2 million new MSME borrowers began their credit journey. This rapid adoption reflects India’s growing appetite for formal credit and the increasing need for reliable information. CRIF High Mark, through its bureau services and data led insights, helps lenders manage the full credit lifecycle, design better products, expand into new customer segments and strengthen financial inclusion.
CRIF’s offerings extend far beyond traditional bureau services. CRIF’s advanced transaction categorisation capabilities that convert raw banking data into structured insights. These insights reveal patterns in income, spending and cash flows, and when combined with CRIF’s bank statement analysis services, lenders can reduce turnaround times, improve operational efficiency and deliver a seamless borrowing experience. These tools are especially valuable for individuals with limited or no credit history and for new to credit customers. Together, they help institutions streamline onboarding, accelerate approvals, optimise acquisition costs and maintain strong risk discipline.
CRIF has also expanded into the sustainability domain through a global digital ESG reporting platform. This platform enables companies, SMEs, banks and insurers to assess their sustainability performance and evaluate the ESG profiles of customers and suppliers. As sustainability becomes core to long term business strategy, CRIF’s platform gives organisations a structured and transparent way to measure progress and improve their impact.
To strengthen credit awareness and financial literacy among young Indians, CRIF launched CRIF Academy in 2025. Through this initiative, CRIF aims to educate the next generation on the importance of credit and responsible borrowing practices. By fostering prudent credit behaviour early on, CRIF Academy seeks to contribute to building a healthier, more transparent, and future‑ready credit environment in India.
CRIF’s commitment to India’s financial infrastructure is further strengthened by the presence of CRIF Connect, which is an RBI licensed Account Aggregator. This platform enables consent based and secure sharing of financial information between individuals and financial institutions. CRIF High Mark, as a licensed credit bureau, and CRIF Connect, as an Account Aggregator, together bring a unique combination of complementary strengths. CRIF High Mark provides lenders with reliable credit information and analytics, while CRIF Connect empowers consumers to control how their financial data is shared. This supports a future where data portability, transparency and customer centric finance become standard expectations.
As India accelerates towards open banking, digital public infrastructure and a more inclusive credit ecosystem, the Account Aggregator framework is becoming increasingly relevant. CRIF Connect strengthens this framework by enabling richer datasets for underwriting, removing information gaps that affect lending decisions and improving the overall quality of risk assessment.
Through sustained investments in analytics, technology and data driven solutions, CRIF is well positioned to support the next phase of India’s digital credit journey. Our goal is to enable smarter lending, broaden access to formal finance and help institutions strengthen the resilience of their portfolios.
As the financial landscape continues to evolve, CRIF remains committed to transforming data into trust, insights into impact and technology into sustainable growth. Our journey reflects both the transformation of India’s financial ecosystem and our belief that responsible innovation can accelerate progress for institutions, individuals and the nation.
