AI-powered lending at scale: How OPL Innovate is rebuilding India’s digital credit infrastructure
As India’s digital public infrastructure reshapes the financial ecosystem, lending is undergoing a fundamental shift—from document-heavy, manual processes to real-time, intelligence-led decisioning. At the center of this transformation is OPL Innovate, a technology company positioning itself not as a lender, but as the digital credit backbone for banks, NBFCs, and government-led platforms.
In this interaction, Mr. Jinand Shah, MD & CEO of OPL Innovate, explains how AI, advanced analytics, and API-first architecture are redefining credit assessment, accelerating MSME lending, and enabling inclusion at scale—without compromising governance or trust.
Moving Beyond Bureau-Led Credit Assessment
Traditional credit assessment relies heavily on bureau scores and static financial history—an approach that excludes a large section of India’s MSMEs. OPL addresses this gap by embedding AI and machine learning across the lending lifecycle. Its platform integrates alternative and consent-based data sources such as GST filings, bank statements via Account Aggregators, and transactional data to create dynamic, real-time risk profiles.
Advanced ML models analyze cash flows, behavioural patterns, and business stability indicators to deliver instant, explainable credit decisions. According to Shah, transparency is non-negotiable. “Every AI-led decision must be auditable, regulator-aligned, and understandable to lenders and borrowers alike,” he says.
What differentiates OPL from conventional digital lending platforms is its end-to-end digital credit infrastructure. Rather than offering a point solution, OPL enables banks and NBFCs to originate, underwrite, approve, disburse, and monitor loans within minutes—while maintaining strict compliance and customization.
GenAI and the Next Phase of Digital Lending
Generative AI is emerging as a powerful force in digital lending, particularly on large-scale platforms such as PSBLOANSIN59MINUTES.COM. Shah believes GenAI will move underwriting from rule-based processing to contextual intelligence—where complex financial data is converted into dynamic credit narratives that improve decision quality and speed.
Conversational AI will further transform borrower engagement by enabling multilingual, always-on assistance across onboarding, eligibility checks, and servicing. In parallel, GenAI-driven document intelligence can extract, validate, and summarize unstructured data with high accuracy, significantly reducing manual intervention and turnaround times.
“GenAI strengthens compliance while improving experience,” Shah notes, “making large public-sector lending platforms faster, smarter, and more scalable.”
A Cloud-Native, API-First Architecture
OPL’s technology foundation is built on a secure, microservices-based architecture designed for scale and resilience. The platform is multi-cloud ready and integrates seamlessly with India’s digital public infrastructure, including Account Aggregators, GST networks, and core banking systems.
At the core of this ecosystem is OAM+ (OPL API Manager+), which aggregates multiple data sources through a single, secure API interface. By simplifying integrations and embedding consent orchestration and compliance by design, OPL enables financial institutions to innovate rapidly without increasing operational or regulatory risk.
Real-Time Analytics Driving Speed and Inclusion
Advanced analytics and real-time data pipelines power OPL’s ability to deliver near-instant credit decisions. Thousands of data signals—ranging from cash-flow trends and sectoral risks to anomaly detection—are processed within seconds to generate holistic borrower profiles.
Real-time intelligence also enables early warning systems, proactive fraud detection, and dynamic risk recalibration. Importantly, the use of alternative data ensures that thin-file MSMEs are evaluated fairly, expanding access to formal credit while improving portfolio health for lenders.
Security, Trust, and Zero-Trust Architecture
Handling sensitive financial data at scale requires enterprise-grade security. OPL follows a defense-in-depth approach, incorporating zero-trust principles, encryption at rest and in transit, strong identity and access controls, and continuous verification across all systems.
Compliance with ISO 27001 and RBI guidelines is reinforced through 24×7 SOC monitoring, AI-driven threat detection, continuous vulnerability scanning, automated compliance checks, and detailed audit logging—ensuring security and governance remain uncompromised as volumes scale.
Enabling a Fully Contactless Loan Journey
Automation is central to OPL’s value proposition. From onboarding to collections, the entire loan lifecycle is digitized through intelligent workflows. API-driven KYC and document verification—leveraging Aadhaar, PAN, DigiLocker, GSTN, and MCA—combine with consent-based data access to enable instant eligibility checks and credit scoring.
E-signing, e-stamping, seamless LOS/LMS integration, and digital mandates such as eNACH and UPI complete a paperless, presence-less lending experience that benefits both borrowers and lenders.
Driving MSME Inclusion Across Bharat
MSME lending in semi-urban and rural India is challenged by limited credit histories, fragmented data, and infrastructure constraints. OPL addresses these barriers using AI-powered, cash-flow–based risk models built on alternative data and behavioural signals.
Vernacular, NLP-driven interfaces simplify onboarding for non-English speakers, while explainable AI builds trust by making decisions transparent. The result is faster, fairer, and more inclusive access to credit for underserved businesses.
Balancing Innovation with Ethical AI
As AI increasingly influences financial decisions, OPL embeds ethical AI principles across its model lifecycle. Bias detection, fairness validation, and explainability are built into development and deployment pipelines. All decisions remain auditable and regulator-aligned—ensuring innovation is balanced with accountability.
Looking forward, OPL sees embedded finance and open banking enabling contextual, real-time lending experiences. Conversational AI will deepen personalization, while blockchain will support secure, tamper-proof data exchange.
Together, these technologies will define OPL Innovate’s next phase—building inclusive, intelligent, and future-ready digital lending ecosystems for India.
