Digital Credit and Inclusion Index: Borrowers from Tier II cities are driving India’s digital credit story, finds report

When it comes to India’s digital credit story, it is the tier 2 cities that are leading the charge, according to findings from the Digital Credit & Inclusion Index (DCII) 2026, conducted by the Pahlé India Foundation and Amazon Pay.

Tier-2 cities lead digital credit and inclusion in the country, with an average score of 58.64, ahead of Tier-1 and Tier-3 cities, the report added.

DCII surveyed over 5,100 respondents across 100 cities in 20 states to examine who accesses digital credit, how easily and frequently they use it, why they borrow, whether they trust it, and whether its use contributes to stronger financial outcomes. This goes “beyond existing benchmarks that largely track payment adoption or aggregate loan volumes”, as per the official release.

India achieves national DCII score of 55.85 out of 100

The study found that India has a national DCII score of 55.85 out of 100, placing the country in the “Emerging and Served” category (51–75) and reflecting a maturing ecosystem where payment infrastructure and digital loan awareness are well established.

• Access is the strongest pillar at 61.24, followed closely by adoption at 57.17.
• Impact which is the measure of whether digital credit is making households more financially secure lags at 49.16.

“This shows that India has made significant progress in expanding access to digital credit. The next opportunity is to deepen trust and adoption, help consumers borrow more purposefully, build confidence in digital credit on par with digital payments, and translate access into measurable financial resilience and savings outcome,” the report noted.

DCII 2026: Here are the key findings for India

According to Vikas Bansal, CEO of Amazon Pay India the finding that Tier-2 cities lead digital credit inclusion signals where the next wave of growth could emerge.

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