Azerbaijan.US
For most consumers in Azerbaijan, having an officially registered job and a stable salary remains the main requirement for obtaining a consumer loan. Banks and traditional lenders rely heavily on documented income when assessing creditworthiness.
As a result, thousands of people who earn money informally – without formal employment contracts or salary certificates – are effectively excluded from bank lending. In many cases, they are either denied loans altogether or offered financing only at significantly higher interest rates.
Financial expert Akram Hasanov notes that banks remain cautious toward borrowers without official income due to higher repayment risks. According to him, this risk-based approach explains why classical banks are reluctant to lend to such clients.
The situation differs somewhat among non-bank credit organizations. These lenders are not legally prohibited from issuing loans to individuals without formal income. Instead, they conduct their own assessments and may approve loans if they determine that the applicant has a stable, albeit informal, source of earnings.
Banking analyst Ismail Mammadov points out that many countries are moving away from income verification models based solely on salary slips. In their place, alternative credit scoring systems are gaining traction.
Such systems rely on non-traditional data, including utility payment history, mobile phone usage, transaction records, e-commerce activity, and other behavioral indicators. These data points help lenders build a more comprehensive risk profile for borrowers who lack formal employment documentation.
In parts of Africa, Latin America, and Asia, mobile data–based scoring systems are already used to issue small loans automatically. In some countries, governments also support lending to informal workers through guarantee mechanisms, partially absorbing credit risk to encourage broader financial inclusion.
Experts believe similar models could eventually be introduced in Azerbaijan. By integrating alternative data sources – such as utility payments, mobile services, tax records, and terminal transactions – lenders could expand access to loans and credit cards without relying exclusively on official salary documentation.
For now, however, formal income remains the decisive factor for most bank-issued consumer loans in the country.
