CRISIL has announced the launch of WE-Check, a digital verification and assessment service dedicated to women entrepreneurs, in association with NITI Aayog.

The value-added service would be available FREE to women entrepreneurs registering on the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), launched by NITI Aayog on International Women’s Day.

Says Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and CEO, CRISIL, “Today, there are women creating jobs not only for themselves but for others as well. These are our women entrepreneurs. However, their number is still minuscule. WEP is aimed at catalysing growth in the number of women entrepreneurs by providing a vibrant ecosystem where they do not face any gender-based barriers and are able to access credit from the formal sector. WE-Check is s CRISIL solution designed to enable this.”

WE-Check offers instant and independent verification of an organisation's presence in the market and can be obtained online, in real-time.

An organisation independently verified by CRISIL will be provided a unique identification code certifying its credentials to potential customers, suppliers, and other business associates.Women entrepreneurs will also be provided a URL that they can incorporate on their website to display the WE-Check logo.

Says Amish Mehta, Chief Operating Officer, CRISIL, “WE-Check offers simple online verification for women entrepreneurs. Being ‘verified by CRISIL’ helps them position themselves as reliable business partners. This would enhance the confidence of potential customers, suppliers and lenders, and thereby help build a better market identity. Our initiatives will also enable timely access to credit from formal channels and empower women to be successful entrepreneurs.”

The launch is the first in a series of solutions from CRISIL for empowering women and encouraging their entrepreneurial spirit.

CRISIL was the first mainstream rating agency to roll out grading on microfinance institutions (MFIs) and has assigned more than 100 MFI gradings in over a decade in this domain. Typically, over 90% of the clientele served by MFIs are women borrowers.

In addition, CRISIL has assessed more than 125,000 micro, small and medium enterprises since 2005, many of which are led by women entrepreneurs.

CRISIL has also set up digital platform, smefirst.com, to bring about transformational changes in the way micro and small loans are originated and assessed by lenders, thus improving credit access for MSMEs. The CRISIL Credit Assessment Score (CCAS) – the first credit assessment score for commercial enterprises in India – was also rolled out recently. Women entrepreneurs can also avail of CCAS, thereby improving their access to credit.

Besides, CRISIL Foundation has been working towards building financial capabilities of women and has covered more than 150,000 women from rural Assam and Maharashtra, many of them micro entrepreneurs.