- 24.9% of recorded lender-refusal events contain evidence of an existing borrowing relationship.
- A separate profile analysis finds repayment-based expectations among people describing a lockout.
- Past repayment and the borrower’s expectation do not establish eligibility for another loan.
Existing borrowers appear in 24.9% of recorded lender-refusal events in Relvo’s digital-credit research (n=626), snapshot dated 2 October 2026. The classification uses reported previous borrowing or repayment evidence. It is not a verified repayment-history check.
How to read the numbers: Shares describe sampled accounts or opinions, with their bases shown. Reviews were sampled across star ratings, which over-represents critical voices. Separate evidence sets can come from the same accounts. Small bases are indicative; bases below 10 are reported directionally.
A returning borrower brings experience of the lender to the next application. They may have completed a previous loan and come back expecting the relationship to continue. A refusal can therefore raise a different question from the one a first-time applicant asks: what changed?
The India digital credit market research examines that expectation separately. In a profile analysis of people describing a lockout after an existing relationship, 69.2% express the belief that repayment should earn the next loan (n=295). This is a stated belief. It is not an entitlement to approval or evidence that the lender’s decision was incorrect.
For product teams, this suggests examining what the previous borrowing experience communicated. A repayment confirmation, a displayed offer and a new application are different steps. If their language implies more continuity than the product provides, a returning applicant may misunderstand what has been promised.
The next investigation should compare those messages with the borrower’s account and the actual application outcome. Relvo’s consumer behavior research identifies an expectation that needs explanation; it cannot determine whether a lender changed its policy, reassessed risk or encountered different application information. It also cannot measure how often all returning customers are refused.
Questions about the research
Is 24.9% the rejection rate for returning borrowers? No. It is the share of recorded refusal events with existing-borrower evidence. The denominator is refusal events, not all returning applications.
Is this based on lender transaction data? No. It uses coded borrower accounts and opinions. It is not loan transaction data and not a representative survey.
Related research: The India Digital Credit Market Report, 2026 on NBW Brain examines borrower decisions, experiences and behavioural patterns, with evidence available through its Market Brain.
Methodology
Source: Relvo digital-credit research, snapshot dated 2 October 2026. Borrower accounts and opinions are coded to a fixed codebook with evidence and coding checks. Accounts span October 2025–October 2026. Reviews were sampled across star ratings; critical voices are over-represented. Each share refers to the event, profile or opinion set named alongside it. A profile is a coded account, not a verified unique borrower or credit file. Opinion and action layers may overlap. Bases of 10–29 are indicative; bases below 10 are reported directionally. Findings do not establish population prevalence, loan approval rates, legal breaches or causal effects.
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