- CreditVision® CIBIL Commercial Rank (CV CMR), a new and upgraded ranking model, empowers lenders to better identify and engage with financially disciplined commercial borrowers
- CV CMR increases the behavior observation window from 24 to 36 months, providing a more comprehensive view of borrower performance
- The model expands the rank-eligible base by 12%, allowing lenders to assess more businesses, including previously unranked ones
- Using CV CMR, portfolio credit quality suggests that more than 70% of ranked commercial borrowers belong to the lender-preferred rank scale
Chandigarh, June 20, 2025 – To further support banks and credit institutions in driving robust credit growth in India’s commercial businesses category, TransUnion CIBIL, India’s leading information and insights company, has launched CreditVision® CIBIL Commercial Rank (CV CMR) — a next-generation credit risk assessment model. This enhanced model helps lenders make sharper, more responsible decisions across the commercial lending ecosystem. CV CMR brings greater precision, wider borrower coverage, and deeper insights into credit behavior, ultimately enhancing the commercial lending process.
As a trusted partner in the journey to grow businesses in a sustainable and viable manner, TransUnion CIBIL has long supported credit institutions with data insights, products, and solutions. One of its analytical innovations that transformed commercial credit risk assessment is the CMR, launched in 2017, with approximately 60% of all commercial loan originations in the industry backed by CMR at present. Over the past eight years, this solution has played a pivotal role in helping credit institutions assess and manage credit risk with greater objectivity and precision and help more businesses achieve their financial goals.
In response to evolving borrower behavior and shifting market dynamics, TransUnion CIBIL has launched CV CMR, which is built on the trusted CreditVision® framework, enabling smarter, more strategic lending. The original CMR model has already demonstrated strong traction, with a majority of lenders using it to support informed credit decisions. Building on this growing adoption and proven impact, CV CMR delivers enhanced capabilities that offer deeper insights and expanded coverage. Its effectiveness is reinforced by key performance metrics:
- Robust model stability: >90% of borrowers remain in the same or within ±1 rank notch over the next three months, enabling consistent onboarding decisions
- Superior risk differentiation: Bad rates range from 0.9% to 98.3% across CMR-1 to CMR-10, with an even distribution of borrowers across ranks
- Wider sourcing funnel: CV CMR allows lenders to access an additional ~5%-7% of better ranked borrowers (CMR-1 to 3) at the inquiry stage, expanding the potential approval funnel. CV CMR also expands the rank eligible base by approximately 12%, enabling access to previously unranked businesses and unlocking new lending opportunities
Developed using TransUnion CIBIL’s proprietary CreditVision® algorithms, CV CMR is tailored to reflect the nuances of India’s evolving commercial lending sector. It increases the observation period from 24 to 36 months, giving lenders a more comprehensive view of borrower performance. This leads to better-informed lending decisions and stronger risk differentiation across borrower types and loan products.
Speaking at the launch, Mr. Bhavesh Jain, Managing Director and CEO of TransUnion CIBIL, said, “India’s MSME sector is a significant driver of economic growth, contributing to employment, innovation, and regional development. With over seven crore MSMEs, the momentum in commercial lending is undeniable. We are witnessing healthy credit demand and stable portfolio performance, particularly as MSMEs continue to seek funds for working capital, expansion, and resilience. Providing MSMEs with clearer and more accurate credit insights is essential for driving sustainable financial inclusion. Businesses with active exposure up to ₹50 crores fall under the ambit of CV CMR. CV CMR equips lenders with the ability to make quicker, more informed decisions, streamlining the overall lending process to commercial businesses. In doing so, it contributes to fostering a self-reliant and inclusive economy, where deserving businesses can access the capital necessary for growth and long-term economic prosperity.”
Mr. Rajiv Sabharwal, MD & CEO of Tata Capital Limited said: “We are happy to see that TransUnion CIBIL has enhanced its flagship CMR to incorporate recent changes in market dynamics with the launch of CV CMR (Credit Vision – CIBIL Commercial Rank). By using an increased observation window and more recent data to develop the Rank, the risk differentiation in CV CMR is expected to be sharper and therefore the Rank will be more robust. I wish TransUnion CIBIL the very best in its endeavor as it has always been the pioneer in effective solutions which have helped financial institutions make the right credit decisions and managing risk robustly.”
Mr. Ravinder Singh, MD, SVC Co-operative Bank said: “TransUnion CIBIL’s CMR has helped us greatly in streamlining our credit assessment process and in making credit available to the deserving businesses at a faster and cheaper rate. With the enhanced version i.e. Credit Vision CIBIL Commercial Rank (CV CMR), which considers longer credit vintage, we are confident that we will be able to further widen our credit reach to the underserved and unserved population of small businesses.”
Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of Ambit Finvest said: “CMR has helped bring more structure to small business lending across our branches. With a clear, consistent risk rank available, our credit officers are able to apply standardized credit frameworks more confidently. This has improved speed of assessment, reduced subjectivity, and helped us manage credit quality more optimally across regions. The enhanced CV CMR will likely help us streamline these processes even further with improved model accuracy and broader data coverage.”
The CV CMR model segments borrowers based on credit behavior and industry best practices, allowing for more efficient and tailored decision-making. Additionally, CV CMR supports digital lending journeys by improving approval ratios, leading to faster and more accurate credit decisions. The 10-scale rank of CV CMR (CMR-1 to CMR-10) is based on the observed empirical 90+ days past due default rates. CMR-1 is the best possible rank and carries the least default rate as opposed to CMR-10 which has the highest default rate — the higher the default rate, the riskier the credit profile. CV CMR classifies borrowers based on these fundamentals, and at present the portfolio credit quality suggests that 73% of ranked commercial borrowers belong to the lender-preferred rank scale.
Presently, there are 94 lakh active commercial borrowers, a 1.5X increase since 2020. This progress has been aided by initiatives like Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), Government e-Marketplace (GeM), Trade Receivables electronic Discounting System (TReDs), Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN), and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), creating a fertile ground for commercial lending and reinforcing the value of tools like CV CMR in advancing prudent credit expansion.