Executive Summary 

HDFC Credila, a leading NBFC in the educational loans segment, engaged Redseer Strategy Consultants to enhance its market position as many Indian students sought to study overseas post the pandemic. The company needed to gain deeper insight into international geography-level demand & supply trends, domestic student needs, and NBFC competitive landscape, to refine its overall growth strategy.  

About the Client 

HDFC Credila is a non-banking finance company in India concentrating on education loans. The platform has enabled thousands of Indian students to finance their education abroad, offering both secured and unsecured loan options through a phygital process.   

The Strategic Imperative

More Indian students are going abroad in pursuit of higher studies, but financing remains a major hurdle. For NBFCs such as Credila, the opportunity lies in catering to this demand with speed, flexibility and better outreach. To unlock greater value in this space, it is important to understand which students to focus on, how to reach them efficiently, and how to manage risk in unsecured lending. 

Key issues discussed were: 

• What is the scale and characteristics of the study abroad opportunity for Indian students in the key international markets (US, UK, Canada, Australia)? Which are the top emerging study abroad destinations for Indian students?  

• Which of these markets should be prioritised and scaled up? 

• What student personas are the most important ones to target in pursuit of targeting the priority markets? 

• What factors drive their lender choice and their financing preferences? 
• How should the channel mix be optimised to minimise acquisition costs? 
• How can models of unsecured loans be scaled up without escalating NPAs? 

Redseer’s Strategic Engagement

A structured, insight-driven approach was executed to decode non-user behaviour: 

1. Sized the market opportunity by international destination, through detailed modelling of new student visas, existing student base, and tuition fee & living expenses 
2. Segmented the country-level opportunity by the type of courses (UG, PG, diploma) and university segments  
3. Segmented student personas by income bracket and university preference to identify key target groups. 
4. Reviewed lead sources across DSAs and aggregators to recommend a more scalable and cost-effective mix.  
5. Identified gaps and critical pain points in the loan journey and suggested ideas to streamline the process and reduce delays. 
6. Reviewed unsecured loans practices to tighten credit checks, manage risk, and maintain portfolio health.  
7. Evaluated the online presence/SEO and recommended measures to increase visibility and organic growth 

Outcomes & Impact 

Redseer delivered a clear path to unlock non-user conversions: 

• Recommended the priority set of countries to be targeted, including the right blend of mature and emerging geographies 
• Identified the local demand hubs pertaining to the countries of interest, to be tapped from a marketing/brand-building perspective 
• Delivered customer persona-specific acquisition strategies, allowing client to scale efficiently with sharper targeting 
• Delivered actionable guidelines for engaging unorganized DSAs directly, balancing operational feasibility with cost savings. 
• Recommended product tweaks and messaging strategies to better appeal to time-sensitive, digitally savvy borrowers.

India’s study abroad market is going through exciting transformation cycles. While the changing China sentiment is improving acceptance of Indian student, regulatory uncertainties in mature education hubs are pushing Indian students to consider alternatives. This calls for study abroad players (counsellors & financers) to adapt and sharpen their offerings. Through this engagement, we helped Credila do something similar through this multi-module engagement.  – Kushal Bhatnagar, Associate Partner, Redseer

What This Means for the Industry 

India’s overseas education financing landscape is entering a phase of rapid transformation. As student aspirations rise and newer destinations gain prominence, financing institutions must evolve from being transactional lenders to becoming lifecycle partners in the student journey. This shift calls for deeper consumer intelligence, faster and more flexible underwriting, and diversified distribution models that extend beyond traditional aggregator-led approaches. Institutions that succeed will be those that combine data-backed targeting, seamless digital processes, and trust-led brand building. 

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