Borrowers of NABARD Financial Services Limited (NABFINS) can now pay their loan EMIs and clear overdue instalments through Bharat Connect, the interoperable bill payment network run by NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
NBBL said on October 28 that it has onboarded NABFINS, the microfinance and rural lending arm of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), under the Loan Repayment category of Bharat Connect. Canara Bank facilitated the integration as the Biller Operating Unit.
Wider repayment reach for rural borrowers
The move opens up more than 1,000 banking and payment apps and over eight lakh physical agent outlets across the country as repayment channels for NABFINS customers. The lender serves more than one lakh customers across 19 states, many of them in rural and semi-urban markets where branch access and digital adoption vary widely.
By allowing borrowers to repay either through the apps they already use or through assisted agent points close to home, the integration is designed to make both regular and overdue instalments easier to settle, while giving the lender faster, standardised collections and confirmations.
Loan Repayment is a fast-growing Bharat Connect category
The Loan Repayment category on Bharat Connect now counts more than 400 billers, including banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions. In the first half of FY27, the category processed over 18.8 crore transactions worth about ₹1.23 lakh crore, NBBL said. Volumes rose 18 per cent year-on-year, while value grew 31 per cent.
Bharat Connect, formerly the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), lets customers pay bills and dues through any participating digital or physical channel, with standardised payment confirmation and complaint handling across the network.
Why it matters
For rural and microfinance lenders, collections remain one of the most cost-intensive parts of the business, often relying on field staff and cash. Plugging into an interoperable rail such as Bharat Connect lets lenders like NABFINS tap the same app and agent network that customers use for utility bills, recharges and other payments, potentially lowering collection costs and improving repayment discipline.
The integration also signals the deepening role of NPCI’s infrastructure beyond UPI, as more regulated lenders move EMI collections onto shared public digital rails.
