“While those under 25 seem to be the least healthy with only 28% of them having a good credit score, consumers between the ages of 35 and 40 are the healthiest with nearly 42% of them having a good credit score. ‘them now have a credit score above 750,’ the report said.

However, he saw a steady increase in credit awareness with age, as 36% of 25- to 30-year-olds have a credit score above 750. “It improves further to 40% for consumers between 30 and 35, peaking at 42% for the 35-40 age group,” he added.

This could be because the need to access credit is greatest at the stage of life between ages 30 and 40, for life goals like buying a home, according to the report.

The report also pointed out that consumers in metros are in better financial health than those in non-metros.

“While we see growing credit awareness among consumers in non-metro cities, they still lag, albeit slightly, in terms of credit health compared to their counterparts residing in metro cities. Nearly 43% of customers in metropolitan cities have a credit score above 750, while non-metropolitan individuals have about 36% of customers who maintain a credit score of 750 and above,” the report points out.

The report revealed that 40% of people in the metropolitan cities of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru maintain a good credit score of 750 and above.

“Bengaluru has 44% of consumers who maintain a healthy credit score of 750 and above, which is the highest among the metros, followed closely by Delhi/NCR and Mumbai which have around 41% of customers each with a score of credit of 750 and more.”

Nearly three quarters of new customers, who check the credit score on the platform, according to the company, come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The report indicates that there is a growing number of consumers of Tier 2 and 3 cities visiting Paisabazaar to check their credit ratings and that the participation of Tier 3 cities has tripled in the last 5 years.

“Conversations with customers made it clear to us that large sections needed to deepen their understanding of credit scoring. Simply free access to their credit report was not enough. Language was a barrier, especially beyond the metros. Giving them their jargon-free credit report in the language of their choice has been a great catalyst for greater credit awareness and inclusion,” said Radhika Binani, Product Manager at Paisabazaar.com.