Millennial & Gen Z women tend to be most credit conscious, study says

By Puja Sharma

The platform has witnessed a 20% surge in women users to inspect their credit score in FY21 vis-à-vis FY20 indicating a gradual yet steady growth in awareness and credit consciousness among women in India.

OneScore, India’s leading tech-powered credit score app which enables one to keep a regular check on one’s credit health, noted that ‘Millennial & Gen Z females were the most ‘credit conscious’ cohorts. The platform has witnessed a 20% surge in female users to inspect their credit score in FY21 vis-à-vis FY20 indicating a gradual yet steady growth in awareness and credit consciousness among women in India.

The data was shared as part of an internal study conducted by the company to evaluate credit behavioural patterns and financial independence among women. The study was conducted on 35 lakh users of the OneScore app across the country out of which 4 lakhs were females.

The data further highlighted – the metro cities of Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai hosted the maximum number of credit-conscious females accounting for approximately 20% of the total number of women on the platform. Among all the metros Bengaluru topped the charts as more than 8% of credit-conscious women hailed from the Silicon Valley of India, followed by Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai. Among states, however, Maharashtra topped the charts accounting for more than 17% of credit-conscious women, followed by Karnataka (13%), Tamil Nadu (13%), Telangana (7%), and Gujarat (6%).

Interestingly, for females with bureau presence, the data highlighted that the majority of them (over 60%) had an ‘excellent’ credit score of over 750 while about 13% owned a good credit score ranging from 700-749.

However, at an overall level, when it comes to adopting digital financial products like credit cards, debit cards, and payment wallets, the disparity between men and women has been stark.  In a typical Indian household, females are usually dependent on their male family members like father, brother, or husband to take the final financial decisions.

Over 75% of women who checked their score regularly did not own a single credit card. The data indicated that these ladies were either availing credit from other sources or were preparing themselves to avail fresh credit shortly and therefore were pursuing to build a healthy credit which acted as a trigger for them to monitor their score regularly. Amongst women who owned cards on the platform, 53% owned an active card, and 14% of women-owned more than one card.

The credit landscape of the country is witnessing substantial transformation and females will have a very strong influence in the way forward.

Speaking on these trends, Anurag Sinha, CEO & Co-founder, One Score & One Card, said: “With rapid digitisation and radical shift in socio-economic patterns, the industry is witnessing a sizeable surge in the number of women consumers participating in the Indian credit landscape, building favourable credit profiles, and achieving financial independence. With unhindered access to credit instruments coupled with the judicious sense of budgeting that women are particularly known for, women can alter the way India spends and consumes feeling economic activity and growth. It is therefore extremely important to empower women and encourage them to pursue financial independence by embracing their credit journey.”

Launched in July 2019, OneScore helps customers get free, unbiased, and privacy-guaranteed access to their credit scores. Its AI-based score planner offers detailed, customised insights into one’s score, which helps one to improve and maintain an above-average credit score. Its card vertical OneCard offers premium metal credit cards to all its users.

Key takeaways

• Metros cities – Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad host the most credit-aware females.
• Witnessed a 20% rise in female users in FY21 vis-à-vis FY20.
• 60% of women have excellent credit scores of above 750.
• Over 75% of women who checked their score regularly did not own a single credit card.
• Over 64% of women who checked their score regularly never availed any form of consumer loans.