PII-Free Risk Scoring: Why Device Intelligence Fits India’s DPDP Era

A customer applies for a loan online. Their documents look valid, the PAN & Aadhaar numbers are fine, and nothing seems off. Income check using the bank statement or account aggregator also looks legitimate. But behind the scenes, the same device has already been used for 12 other applications this week — many of them fraudulent, not just with your NBFC/Bank but with others in the jurisdiction too.

This is the challenge lenders face in today’s environment. With India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act now in force, institutions are expected to minimize the use of sensitive identifiers like Aadhaar or PAN, yet still maintain accuracy in fraud checks and credit scoring. Regulators have been clear that risk models must strike this balance — protecting customer data while ensuring robust defenses.

Device intelligence helps ease this pressure. By shifting focus from personal identifiers to the device itself, lenders gain trustworthy, compliance-friendly signals without overexposing themselves to data risks. It also fits directly into the Reserve Bank of India’s long-standing call for a layered security approach, adding a powerful layer of device-based insight to multi-factor protection.

The Limits of PII in Modern Risk Management

For years, risk checks focused on the individual: their documents, their history, their IDs. That worked before DPDP, but it created two big problems:

1. Data exposure risks – More personal information collected meant higher vulnerability to breaches.
2. Customer friction – Endless KYC uploads, OTPs, and paperwork slowed down the process.

Device intelligence flips this approach. It looks at the phone, laptop, or tablet a customer uses, and assesses risk through signals like network details, device fingerprinting, time zone consistency, and usage patterns.

The advantage is clear: less dependence on PII, smoother onboarding, and stronger compliance. In India, where smartphone penetration is high but digital literacy varies, this approach helps extend credit fairly without increasing risk.

How Devices Reveal Connections That PII Misses

Fraudsters have become good at faking identities. PAN cards, Aadhaar data, synthetic profiles — these can all be fabricated at scale.

What’s harder to fake is the device behind those profiles.

A fraudster may create ten applications under ten different names, but they usually reuse the same phone or laptop. Device intelligence connects the dots, exposing links across accounts that would otherwise appear unrelated. It flags rooted devices, emulators, and virtual machines early, so lenders can act before losses occur.

Frictionless Journeys, Broader Access

If there’s one thing customers dislike, it’s friction: too many OTPs, repeated KYC steps, or delayed approvals. In a market like India — where competition is fierce and consumers have plenty of options — friction leads to drop-offs.

Device intelligence solves this by working silently in the background. Genuine customers experience faster onboarding, while only suspicious applications get flagged for additional checks.

The outcome: security for lenders, convenience for borrowers.

But the story goes beyond user experience. The growth of digital credit in India has already reached far outside metro cities. In tier-2 and tier-3 regions, many customers lack a formal credit history, which means traditional PII-heavy models automatically exclude them. This creates invisible discrimination: reliable borrowers without bureau records are denied access. Device intelligence helps overcome this barrier by assessing risk through devices and behavioral signals, rather than only through documents or credit bureau data. The result is inclusion without discrimination — a goal that carries social as well as political weight in today’s India.

This is especially relevant for the country’s young population. India is the youngest large economy in the world, with a median age of just 28. For millions of these young users, credit history simply does not exist yet. To keep them from being locked out of the financial system, lenders need alternative risk assessment methods that move past traditional scoring. Device intelligence provides exactly that — a way to extend access fairly while still keeping fraud under control.

Resilient Risk Models for the DPDP Era

Fraud in India evolves quickly — from UPI scams to account takeovers to synthetic IDs. Regulations evolve too. The risk models that will last are the ones built to adapt.

Consider the scale of UPI. According to PwC’s Indian Payments Handbook 2024–2029, UPI transaction volumes grew 57% year-on-year in FY 2023–24, crossing 131 billion transactions. By FY 2028–29, that number is projected to reach 439 billion, accounting for over 91% of all retail digital payments in India (up from 80% today). At the same time, UPI-related fraud cases rose 84% in 2024, compared to 2023.

This growth is positive for inclusion and convenience — but it also illustrates how fraud risk expands with scale. The more customers rely on UPI, the more fraudsters seek ways to exploit gaps.

Globally, the trend is the same. In Brazil, Pix has transformed the country into a digital payments pioneer. But Brazil’s experience shows the risks of scaling too quickly. Fraud cases quadrupled between 2018 and 2023, and 94% of Brazilians have experienced at least one digital scam attempt per month.

A similar pattern can be seen in Indonesia, where the Financial Services Authority (OJK) has tightened rules on the handling of personal data, pushing fintechs to find privacy-friendly approaches that still keep fraud in check.

The lesson for India is clear: inclusion without safeguards becomes exposure. As UPI continues its explosive growth, India must prioritize stronger, privacy-conscious risk controls to avoid repeating the same cycle.

Here’s how device intelligence keeps lenders ahead:

• Smarter Fraud Prevention – Catch both first-time and repeat offenders early.

• Sharper Risk Insights – Spot anomalies such as foreign IPs, proxies, or device manipulation.

• Healthier Traffic Quality – Risky traffic steadily declines, leaving a cleaner applicant base.

• Actionable Enhancements – Combine device signals with phone/email data or filter out non-Indian IPs for even higher accuracy.

• Better Business Outcomes – Lower delinquency, higher trust, and more confident origination strategies.

This isn’t just about staying compliant today. It’s about building a model that adapts as fraud tactics — and regulations — change tomorrow.

Why Now Is the Right Time for India

India’s financial ecosystem is expanding: digital credit is rising, BNPL is spreading, and access is growing in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. This is great for inclusion — but it also expands the attack surface for fraudsters.

Heavy reliance on PII or static KYC isn’t enough anymore. It creates compliance challenges under DPDP and fails to catch dynamic, device-level patterns.

By adopting device intelligence now, lenders go beyond “ticking the box.” They future-proof their risk models, build trust with customers, and reduce fraud losses — all while keeping journeys smooth.

Closing Thought

The DPDP Act should not be seen as a hurdle. It’s an opportunity to modernize risk practices — to move away from outdated, PII-heavy methods and toward smarter, privacy-conscious models. Just as importantly, it gives India the chance to build its own trust framework rather than adopting approaches of other countries — one designed for the scale, diversity, and digital reality of its own market.

Device intelligence is the bridge: it delivers compliance, sharper insights, and a better customer journey in one solution.

The future of risk scoring in India isn’t about collecting more personal data. It’s about looking at the device.

See Device Intelligence in Action

Every lender’s challenges are different. That’s why a demo matters — it shows how device intelligence actually works in your environment: how it uncovers hidden fraud patterns, keeps customer journeys smooth, and aligns with DPDP requirements.

Request a demo with JuicyScore to explore how PII-free risk scoring can strengthen both compliance and growth.