New Delhi, June 29 -- Barely one in four rural households in India understands what a credit score is and how it influences access to loans, exposing a major financial literacy gap, despite efforts to deepen formal credit penetration.

A June 2026 survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) also found that high borrowing costs remain the biggest concern in the rural credit market, with around half of all households surveyed saying credit was too expensive. Many respondents said lower borrowing costs, including through interest subvention, could improve access to finance.

These findings come against the backdrop of Union budget 2026-27, which announced the introduction of a Grameen Credit Score framework to ...