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RBI Flags Unsecured Retail as Main Source of New Loan Slippages, Private Banks Bear Most

The central bank warns that rapid growth in unsecured, fintech-heavy borrowing is emerging as the system's main fault line.

Overview

  • Unsecured retail credit, led by credit cards and personal loans, accounted for about 53% of total retail slippages in the period reviewed.
  • Private sector banks made up roughly 76% of slippages in unsecured retail loans, and their write-offs equaled 229.7% of gross NPAs.
  • Fintech lenders’ books were over 70% unsecured and grew about 36.1% year over year, with more than half of loans to borrowers under 35 and higher impairment among borrowers with five or more unsecured lenders.
  • Overall asset quality showed improvement with the stressed-asset ratio falling for three straight quarters, even as the share of borrowers taking loans from three or more lenders rose slightly in September 2025.
  • Microfinance credit shrank for a sixth consecutive quarter, down 9.3% by end-September 2025, and active borrowers declined by 7.8 million.