Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Thursday called for expanding the use of the Account Aggregator (AA) framework to improve access to formal credit for self-employed individuals and gig workers, according to PTI.
Speaking at SamvAAd 2026-India Open Finance Summit, Nilekani said the framework should extend beyond salaried individuals to include people such as street vendors who need regular credit to purchase supplies.
"We have to go beyond salaried because salaried is one part of our ecosystem. We want that lady on the street who is selling vegetables to get daily credit to buy supplies. That's our dream of what AA should do," he said.
He said the framework could reach more borrowers by incorporating additional sources of financial information, enabling lenders to evaluate people who may not own significant assets.
"Historically, lending in India was based on what assets you own. But a person does not own any assets. How do they get access to credit? They get access to credit by monetising the data streams and that's what we do here," the Infosys co-founder said.
Combining Goods and Services Tax (GST) data, income-tax returns and bank account information could provide the basis for cash-flow-based lending to small businesses and self-employed individuals, he said.
"If you have GST data, income tax return plus current account, that is the basis for cash flow lending for small business and self-employed," he said.
Nilekani also called for widening the range of financial information accessible through the AA framework. Potential additions include income-tax returns, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) records, small-savings schemes, FASTag data and utility bill payments.
He emphasised the need to establish a sustainable business model for the ecosystem, saying Account Aggregators should be able to earn fees and data providers might also need compensation.
"The Account Aggregators themselves have to make some fee income. You can't completely rely on a free system," he said.
Account Aggregators are non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) that retrieve or collect customers' financial information. The framework allows individuals and businesses to share financial data digitally with regulated financial institutions, subject to their consent. Financial information cannot be retrieved, shared or transferred through the framework without customer consent.
The system is designed to support data-driven financial services, including credit assessment. Nilekani said extending it to more categories of borrowers and financial services could help make India's digital financial infrastructure more inclusive.
(With PTI inputs)