India to Launch Unified Lending Interface for Rural and Small Business Credit: RBI Governor
India is set to launch a platform designed to boost credit access for small and rural businesses, addressing significant gaps in lending to agricultural and small enterprises. The Unified Lending Interface (ULI), as announced by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, will streamline the credit appraisal process and enable a seamless, consent-based flow of digital information to support these borrowers. The platform is expected to roll out 'in due course'.
Governor Das highlighted that ULI is intended to enhance digital access to information from multiple sources, ensuring faster and more efficient lending. The initiative builds on the success of last year’s pilot program, which was part of the central bank’s broader agenda to digitalize financial services in India.
India’s rapid adoption of digital banking and payment systems, including mobile banking, digital wallets, and the widely used Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has already established the country as a global leader in digital payments. Governor Das likened ULI’s potential impact on the lending sector to UPI’s transformation of the payments ecosystem, expressing confidence that it would revolutionize access to credit for underserved sectors.
The ULI platform is anticipated to be a game-changer for bridging financial inclusion gaps across rural and small business communities in India.
