Advertising rules for NBFCs and digital lenders: RBI, Google and Meta

Lending is the most heavily watched part of financial marketing in India. Illegal loan apps, hidden charges and harsh recovery have pushed RBI, Google and Meta to tighten their rules. For a genuine NBFC or digital lender, that's good news: the rules filter out the bad actors. But your campaigns have to be built to pass them.

This guide covers RBI's rules that touch marketing, Google's requirements for loan ads, and a checklist for your next campaign.

RBI's Digital Lending Directions, 2025

On 8 May 2025, RBI brought its digital lending rules together in the Reserve Bank of India (Digital Lending) Directions, 2025. They apply to banks, NBFCs and other regulated lenders, which RBI calls "regulated entities". They also apply, through the lender, to the lending service providers (LSPs) and digital lending apps (DLAs) that work with them.

The Directions don't have a section called "advertising". But several rules decide what your marketing can say and show.

The lender is responsible for its partners

The lender stays "fully responsible" for what its LSPs do. If a marketplace, a sourcing partner or an agency running your ads misleads borrowers, it's your problem as much as theirs. Lenders must keep a register of their LSPs, repeat a fit-and-proper check on them every year and set out their roles in contracts.

For marketing: brief every partner who promotes your loans on what they can and can't say, and review their ads and landing pages.

Say who the lender is

RBI first required lending platforms that act for a bank or NBFC to tell the customer upfront which bank or NBFC they're acting for in a 2020 circular, now folded into the 2025 Directions. RBI brought this in because platforms were presenting themselves as lenders without naming the lender behind them.

From 1 November 2025, platforms that work with several lenders must show every loan offer matching the borrower's request. Each offer shows the lender's name, the amount, the tenure, the APR and the repayment terms, so borrowers can compare. They must also say which lenders didn't match.

For marketing: an ad or landing page shouldn't imply that a marketplace is the lender. Name the NBFC or bank.

The RBI directory isn't an endorsement

Lenders must report every digital lending app they use, including their partners' apps, on RBI's CIMS portal. The reporting deadline was 15 June 2025, and RBI has published the list as a public directory since July 2025. But RBI doesn't verify the data, and says being listed isn't a registration, authorisation or endorsement by RBI.

For marketing: "RBI approved app" is wrong and risky. If you're an RBI-registered NBFC, you can say so and name the NBFC. Don't stretch it further.

What must be on your website

Lenders must publish on their websites:

• their digital lending products;
• their LSPs;
• customer care details.

Grievance officers for both the lender and the LSP must be named on every app. A privacy policy has to be public on the websites of both, naming any third party that collects personal data through the app.

For marketing: your landing pages will be checked against your main website. Keep the lender's name, products and contact details consistent across both.

No dark patterns

Multi-lender platforms must not use dark patterns or deceptive design to mislead borrowers. Examples are fake countdown timers, pre-ticked consent boxes, and hiding the APR behind a "Get your loan" button. Treat this as a rule for every lending page, not just marketplaces.

Data and consent

The Directions require clear consent before collecting data, with the purpose stated, and the option to withdraw it. Apps should avoid asking for access to the phone's media, contacts or call logs. Data must be stored in India; any data processed abroad must be deleted there within 24 hours.

For marketing: forms and tracking tags on loan landing pages collect personal data. Ask only for what you need, state why, and check that your analytics and ad tags fit your privacy policy.

Google's requirements for loan ads

Financial Services Verification

Google won't show financial services ads, including loans, to people in India unless the advertiser holds Financial Services Verification. It has enforced this since January 2023. RBI and the National Housing Bank are among the regulators Google accepts for India. Most advertisers verify through G2RS, Google's outside partner. Our guide to G2RS and Google's Financial Services Verification explains the steps.

If a partner or marketplace runs ads for your loans from its own account, it needs approved third-party status: your firm can start that, or the partner can apply to Google directly.

Personal loan landing pages

Google's financial products policy requires personal loan ads to lead to a page that clearly shows:

• the minimum and maximum repayment period;
• the maximum annual percentage rate (APR), which generally includes interest and fees for a year, shown separately from the example;
• a representative example of the total cost of the loan, with all fees.

Google only allows personal loans that are repaid over 61 days or more. Short-term loans repaid in full within 60 days can't be advertised.

Lending apps on Google Play

If you promote a lending app, Google Play has its own rules for personal loan apps in India:

• Apps from RBI-licensed lenders must submit the licence.
• Apps that only arrange loans from NBFCs or banks must declare that, and name every lending partner prominently in the app description.
• The developer account name must match the registered business name.

Meta

Meta's SEBI and AMFI verification for India covers securities and investment ads, not loans. Loan ads on Facebook and Instagram still have to follow Meta's financial services ad policies, and RBI's rules apply whatever the platform.

The same marketing principles hold:

• name the lender;
• show the real cost;
• don't promise "instant approval" or "no checks" unless that's exactly how the product works.

A checklist for your next lending campaign

This is the checklist we work through when we run lead generation for NBFCs and lenders.

• Google Financial Services Verification done in your firm's name, with partners added as approved third parties.
• The lender's name visible in ads and on landing pages, especially for marketplaces.
• Repayment period, maximum APR and a cost example on every personal loan landing page.
• No "RBI approved", no fake urgency, no pre-ticked consent.
• Landing pages consistent with your website's list of products, LSPs and customer care.
• Forms collect only what's needed; tags and tracking match your privacy policy.
• Every partner promoting your loans briefed, and their ads reviewed.