In a significant move to enhance credit access for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary launched a New Credit Assessment Model during a post-budget interaction in Vishakhapatnam. The initiative, first announced in the Union Budget 2024-25, aims to revolutionize MSME financing by leveraging digitally fetched and verifiable data for automated loan appraisals.

A Shift Towards In-House Credit Assessment Public Sector Banks (PSBs) will now develop their own credit assessment models, reducing reliance on external agencies. This model will score MSMEs based on their digital footprints, offering a more comprehensive evaluation beyond traditional asset or turnover-based assessments.

The new system will introduce an automated, data-driven approach to loan approvals, enhancing transparency, efficiency, and accessibility for MSME borrowers. The model will cater to both Existing to Bank (ETB) and New to Bank (NTB) MSMEs, ensuring wider financial inclusion.

Key Features of the Digital Credit Assessment Model The model will integrate multiple real-time data sources to assess the creditworthiness of MSMEs, including:

PAN authentication via NSDL Mobile & email verification through OTP GST data fetched via API integration Bank statement analysis using Account Aggregators Income Tax Return (ITR) verification Commercial & consumer credit bureau checks Fraud detection through API-enabled Hunter checks

This data-driven approach will enable objective decision-making, reducing manual intervention and the risk of biased assessments.