Loans Worth INR 38K Cr Extended Via ULI So Far

SUMMARY

RBI’s lending platform Unified Lending Interface (ULI) has extended 7.5 Lakh loans amounting to INR 38,000 Cr so far, chief general manager Suvendu Pati said

The ULI is a technology platform to facilitate easy access to authenticated data from various sources through standardised APIs to which all lenders can connect seamlessly

The central bank launched the ULI pilot in 2023, following which the then RBI governor said last year that the central bank was set to launch ULI to offer credit to rural and small businesses

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) lending platform Unified Lending Interface (ULI) has extended 7.5 Lakh loans worth INR 38,000 Cr since the launch of its pilot in August 2023, the central bank’s chief general manager Suvendu Pati said as per a report by Moneycontrol.

The ULI is a technology platform to facilitate easy access to authenticated data from various sources through standardised APIs to which all lenders can connect seamlessly through a ‘plug and play’ model.

It is pertinent to note that the central bank said last month that 6 Lakh loans worth INR 27,000 Cr, including 1.60 Lakh loans to micro, small, and medium enterprises, were disbursed using APIs from the platform as of December 6, 2024.

The RBI then said 36 lenders, including public and private banks, small finance banks, cooperative banks, and NBFCs had signed up to the ULI.

To ensure that loans are extended to legitimate borrowers, the lenders authenticate and verify customer identities and land records using more than 50 data services, including satellite services, transliteration, property search services, and dairy insights.

Under the ULI pilot, launched in 2023, 1.60 Lakh MSME loans aggregating to INR 14,500 Cr were also disbursed, according to the RBI.

Following this, the then RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said last year that the central bank was set to launch ULI to offer credit to rural and small businesses. The platform is envisaged to cater to the large unmet demand for credit across various sectors, particularly for agriculture and MSME borrowers.

“Just like Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transformed the payments ecosystem, we expect that ULI will play a similar role in transforming the lending space in India,” Das had said then.

 

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