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Private Markets Inf

Microfinance &
Financial
Inclusion.

Strategic intelligence across microfinance institutions, self-help groups, NBFC-MFI lending, digital micro-credit, rural financial services, and the full stack of financial services reaching India's 300 million unbanked and underbanked households — for MFIs, development finance institutions, impact investors, and regulators closing the world's largest financial access gap.

70+
Microfinance engagements
13yr
Sector experience
9
Markets covered
$1.2B
Capital decisions supported
Coverage Areas

Every layer of the
microfinance and inclusion ecosystem.

01 · MFI Portfolio Intelligence

NBFC-MFI Credit Quality & Portfolio Research

MFI borrower behaviour research, over-indebtedness risk assessment, portfolio stress early warning, and competitive intelligence for microfinance investors and social lenders needing primary research beyond financial statements to understand India's INR 4 lakh crore MFI loan book.

Borrower behaviourOver-indebtedness riskPortfolio stress warning
02 · Digital Micro-Credit

Fintech Micro-Lending & BOP Credit

Digital micro-credit adoption among BOP borrowers, first-time borrower behaviour, digital lending platform competitive landscape, and market sizing for digital micro-credit companies targeting India's 100 million first-time digital credit users.

Digital adoptionFirst-time borrowerPlatform competitive
03 · SHG & Group Lending

Self-Help Groups & Joint Liability Groups

SHG credit absorption capacity, JLG group dynamics, state-level SHG-bank linkage intelligence, and programme intelligence for development finance institutions and MFIs building on India's 12 million SHG network.

SHG absorptionJLG dynamicsSHG-bank linkage
04 · Rural Financial Services

Rural Savings, Payments & Insurance

Rural household financial behaviour, Jan Dhan account activation intelligence, rural payment adoption, and competitive landscape for financial inclusion platforms building access into India's 600,000 villages.

Rural financial behaviourJan Dhan activationRural payment adoption
05 · MFI Competitive Intelligence

MFI Landscape, M&A & Portfolio Benchmarking

MFI market share intelligence, geographic concentration mapping, operational efficiency benchmarking, and M&A due diligence for PE investors and DFIs evaluating India's consolidating microfinance landscape.

Market share intelGeographic concentrationOperational benchmarking
06 · Financial Inclusion Policy

Regulation, RBI Guidelines & Policy Navigation

RBI regulation impact on MFI business models, priority sector lending policy, digital lending guideline navigation, and policy intelligence for MFIs and fintech micro-lenders navigating India's frequently shifting financial inclusion regulatory environment.

RBI regulation impactPSL policyDigital lending guidelines

Questions we've answered for
microfinance clients.

These are actual questions clients bring to us — answered multiple times, across multiple geographies.

What is the true over-indebtedness rate among MFI borrowers in Andhra Pradesh today — and which portfolio of an MFI serving that district is most at risk of the kind of credit event that brought down the sector in 2010?
We are a development finance institution evaluating a $50M equity investment in an Indian NBFC-MFI. How real is the portfolio quality beyond the reported NPA, which districts have the highest credit stress not yet in the 90-day bucket, and what is the quality of the collections infrastructure?
Our digital micro-credit platform has 800,000 active borrowers but 28% are showing missed-payment patterns in month 2. Tell us whether this is a credit quality problem, a collection model problem, a communication problem, or evidence that our loan sizing algorithm exceeds the real repayment capacity of our segment.
We are a global MFI evaluating Bangladesh market exit and India market entry. Which Indian states have the regulatory environment, credit infrastructure, and borrower density that most closely resemble the Bangladesh market where our model has worked?
Who will own India's digital micro-credit market in 2028 — the incumbent MFIs building digital lending arms, the pure-play fintech micro-lenders, the banks using MFI data for direct lending, or the super-apps embedding micro-credit?
Our SHG-linked finance programme reaches 200,000 women through 12,000 SHGs in Bihar, but only 40% of SHGs have accessed credit beyond their internal corpus. Tell us whether the barrier is awareness, the bank-linkage process complexity, SHG leader capability, or genuine lower credit demand.
Microfinance Case Studies

Evidence of
decisions made better.

MF.01 · Portfolio Quality · India

MFI Portfolio Stress: Andhra Pradesh Research

DFI commissioning MFI portfolio quality research. NEO ran 600 borrower interviews across 4 districts, over-indebtedness assessment, and collector infrastructure quality evaluation.

Portfolio stress quantified · Early warning system designed
Read Case Study
MF.02 · Digital Micro-Credit · India

Digital Micro-Credit: Borrower Behaviour Research

Digital lending platform commissioning borrower behaviour research. NEO ran 400 active borrower interviews on repayment behaviour, loan sizing adequacy, and alternative credit source usage.

Loan sizing algorithm revised · Repayment improved 18%
Read Case Study
MF.03 · MFI · Equity DD

$45M NBFC-MFI Equity Investment DD

Impact PE fund evaluating NBFC-MFI equity investment. District-level credit stress mapped through primary research, collections infrastructure assessed, and management quality evaluated.

3 high-risk districts identified · Investment approved with covenants
Read Case Study
Microfinance Intelligence

Latest microfinance
thinking.

Market Report

India's Microfinance Portfolio Quality 2026: Primary Research on Borrower Over-Indebtedness, District-Level Stress, and the Early Warning Signals Not Visible in Financial Statements

March 2026
Strategy Brief

Digital Micro-Credit in India: Borrower Behaviour, Loan Sizing Reality, and Platform Competitive Dynamics as MFIs and Fintechs Converge on the Same 100 Million Borrowers

February 2026
Due Diligence Note

MFI Equity Investment DD: Portfolio Stress Beyond the NPA, Collections Infrastructure Quality, and the Regulatory Exposure That Moves Faster Than an Annual Report

December 2025
Microfinance Practice Leadership

The team behind
the intelligence.

GK
Partner & Microfinance Practice Lead
Ganesh Kumar

17 years in microfinance and financial inclusion strategy. Led 45+ portfolio quality research, market entry, and investment mandates for MFIs, DFIs, and financial inclusion investors across India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and East Africa.

AK
Director — MFI Portfolio & Credit Quality
Ananya Krishnan

13 years of primary borrower research, over-indebtedness mapping, and collections infrastructure evaluation across India's fragmented microfinance sector.

VS
Director — Digital Micro-Credit & Policy
Vikram Sood

12 years in digital micro-credit and financial inclusion policy intelligence. Specialist in fintech micro-lender competitive analysis, borrower behaviour research, and RBI regulation impact assessment.

A microfinance decision
you need to get right.
Brief the Microfinance Practice →

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