A home loan rejection is something many borrowers fear, but for one of India’s leading fintech founders, it came as an unexpected reality. Pravin Jadhav, founder of a fintech company valued at around $1.2 billion, recently shared on X that a leading private bank turned down his home loan application despite his long-standing relationship with the lender and a strong financial profile.In a candid post that quickly drew attention online, Jadhav wrote, “Founder’s life is hard!” before listing the reasons why he believed the rejection was surprising. According to him, he has been a customer of the bank for more than 25 years, has a CIBIL score of around 800, and maintains assets with the bank worth nearly five to six times the value of the loan he had applied for. He also said he is likely among the bank’s top 0.1% customers by assets.Adding a touch of humour, Jadhav pointed out the irony that the same bank had previously recognised him as a top fintech innovator. Yet, when it came to approving a home loan, he claimed the bank classified him as a high-risk borrower because he is a founder.“They can give loan to team members our company employs, but not me – because as founder I’m high risk category,” he wrote. Ending the post on a lighter note, he joked, “Damn… lagta hai office mein hi rehna padega zindagi bhar…” (Looks like I’ll have to live in the office for the rest of my life.)
Why founders may face loan challenges
While the post resonated with many entrepreneurs, industry experts note that banks often assess salaried employees and business owners differently. Salaried borrowers generally receive a fixed monthly income making future cash flows easier to predict. Founders, however, may have significant wealth tied to their companies, stock holdings or business assets while their personal income can fluctuate depending on company performance and compensation structure.As a result, even financially successful entrepreneurs can face stricter scrutiny during credit assessments. Banks may seek greater certainty around regular income, repayment capacity and business stability before approving personal loans such as home loans.
The post sparks discussion
Jadhav’s experience has made people discuss on social media whether the traditional lending process takes into account the contemporary entrepreneur, especially founders of startups who might have accumulated their money outside the traditional salary system.A lot of people were surprised that despite Jadhav’s excellent credit score, large banking relationship and huge personal wealth, he still got his loan application rejected. Another thing discussed is that banks operate using standardised risk assessment systems and lending schemes which will consider a founder as a higher risk individual irrespective of their company’s valuation and public presence.The post brought up the issue of how financial organisations evaluate entrepreneurs. It is possible to say that despite success in creating a good company, getting personal credit does not become any easier.
