THE RETAIL LENDING BURDEN

RETAIL LOAN DEMAND HAS BOOMED AFTER COVID-19, THANKS TO FINTECH FIRMS THAT CAN SERVE CONSUMERS REMOTELY. BANKS AND NBFCs HAVEN'T BEEN FAR BEHIND IN THE DIGITAL SHIFT. HOWEVER, THE SURGE IN UNSECURED LOANS POSES THE RISK OF OVER-LEVERAGING, AND PRESSURE IS MOUNTING

- TEENA JAIN KAUSHAL

DELHI-BASED HARINATH MEHRA is worried about his friends. More specifically, their spending habits. Armed with multiple credit cards, his friends often go on spending sprees. What worries him the most is their tendency to spend more than they can afford, which has become a habit now. “For instance, many times they end up ordering a full meal when all they want is a burger,” says the 24-year-old.

It’s not as if Mehra was born wise. “I went through a lot of stress and anxiety when I couldn’t pay my credit card bills. It was not easy to deal with recovery agents, and it caused me a lot of mental harassment,” recounts Mehra. Thankfully, he is debt-free now. (See box ‘Freedom from Debt’.)

He isn’t alone. Millennials and GenZ folks, enticed by the ready availability of credit cards, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) schemes, and other options on lending apps, can easily fall into a debt trap by overspending using these options, then paying only the minimum due or defaulting on their debt obligations, and then getting caught in the rigmarole of debt recovery. In fact, a July report by credit bureau TransUnion CIBIL reveals that 40 per cent of the retail loan demand is driven by younger customers aged between 18 and 30 years. Experts say this could become a serious challenge, given the demographics of the country where over half the population (52 per cent) is aged below 30, per the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21).