CRIF High Mark Reports Improved Asset Quality in Microfinance Sector

CRIF High Mark, a leading credit bureau in India, has released the latest edition of its quarterly publication MicroLend, highlighting the continuous cautious yet improving credit environment as of September 2025. While the overall Gross Loan Portfolio (GLP) continued to moderate, delinquencies and origination quality trends point toward improving asset health and better portfolio management across lenders.

As of September 2025, the industry’s GLP stood at ₹3.46 lakh crore, reflecting a 16.5% year-on-year and 3.8% quarter-on-quarter decline. However, the value of loans disbursed rose 6.5% QoQ, indicating a shift toward higher ticket sizes and lending to seasoned borrowers.

Portfolio quality showed notable improvement, with PAR 1–180 days past due (DPD) improving to 5.99%, a 1.07% QoQ decline. DPD buckets (PAR 1–30 and PAR 31–90) eased across most lender types

Highlighting key trends:

• NBFC-MFIs continued to dominate originations value, accounting for 41.6% of total disbursement value in Q2 FY26, followed by Banks (31.2%), Small Finance Banks (14.5%) and NBFCs (12.7%).

• Loans in the ₹50,000–₹1 lakh segment accounted for the majority of disbursements, while loans above ₹1 lakh doubled their share YoY to 15%, driven largely by banks and NBFCs.

• Borrower exposure to up to three lenders rose from 83.1% to 91.2% between Sep’24 and Sep’25, reflecting    adherence to the guardrails cap —limiting borrowers to a maximum of three lenders.

• As of Sep’25, borrowers with aggregate portfolio exposure up beyond ₹2.0 lakh (Guardrails threshold) accounted for just 2.3% of the overall industry, reducing from 5.1% as of Sep’24

Commenting on the findings, Sachin Seth, Chairman – CRIF High Mark Credit Bureau (CIC) Regional Managing Director, CRIF India & South Asia, said: “The microfinance sector continues to demonstrate its resilience, with lenders showing prudence in customer selection and credit underwriting. The steady rise in ticket sizes and increased lending to experienced borrowers reflect a maturing credit ecosystem that is balancing growth with sustainability. As institutions leverage data-driven insights to assess borrower behavior, we expect the next few quarters to see more calibrated expansion backed by stronger asset quality.”

The MicroLend report is CRIF High Mark’s quarterly publication that provides data-driven insights into India’s microfinance ecosystem, tracking key performance metrics such as portfolio trends, delinquencies, borrower exposure, and lender behavior.