Financial Infrastructure

Financial infrastructure is the set of institutions that enable effective operation of financial intermediaries. This includes such elements as payment systems, credit information bureaus and collateral registries. More broadly, financial infrastructure encompasses the existing legal and regulatory framework for financial sector operations.

Credit Bureaus
Credit bureaus collect information on a borrower's credit history from various sources including financial institutions, non-bank lenders, telecoms, courts and other sources. The information is then merged and analyzed to form a comprehensive credit history record for each borrower and is sold to lenders in the form of credit reports or credit scores.

Research has shown that credit bureaus are critical to the expansion of credit for both individuals and small businesses, since access to credit information is needed when applying modern financial technologies to credit decisions for these market segments.

IFC established the Global Credit Bureau Program (GCBP) to foster the development of private credit bureaus in emerging markets. These efforts strengthen the financial sectors in target countries and support sustainable economic growth.

GCBP is providing on-going credit bureau support in more than 30 countries. The assistance is provided in such areas as the development of legal and regulatory framework, provision of the specific technical assistance to start-up and expanding credit bureaus, including strategy and technical partner selection, and organization of outreach and awareness events. IFC may also consider investing in a credit bureau on a case-by-case basis

Resources
Links
--- World Bank Credit Reporting Systems Project
--- Doing Business
--- Doing Business Law Library—The largest free online collection of business laws and regulations.

Promotional Material
--- Global Credit Bureau Program (GCBP)
--- Credit Bureaus: Enabling Economic Growth & Prosperity. IFC's partnership with Visa.

Publications
--- Supporting the Development of Private Credit Information Bureaus, Access to Finance, The World Bank Group, April 2005, Issue No. 4—IFC increases technical assistance towards the establishment of regional credit bureau facilities.
--- Making Small Business Lending Profitable, Proceedings from the Global Conference on Credit Scoring, April 2–3, 2001, Washington, D.C.—Conference expounds on the economic potential of expanding lending to small businesses for financial institutions.
--- IFC Pushes To Help SMEs Strengthen Critical Credit Reporting Systems, Vendor View—Credit bureaus are invaluable for helping financial institutions safely expand their lending to individual customers and to small and medium enterprises. Through its Global Credit Bureau Program, IFC creates or improves credit bureaus by providing technical assistance or making direct investments. Credit reporting is critical for lending to individuals and small and medium enterprises.
--- Sound Credit Risk Assessment and Valuation of Loans, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, June 2006
--- Credit Bureau Knowledge Guide (English, French, Spanish) — A comprehensive overview of the development of credit bureaus.

Presentations
--- Global Credit Bureau Program Status

Map
--- Where We Work

GCBP News
Private Credit Bureaus Around the World

For further information on the Global Credit Bureau Program, contact:
Nataliya Mylenko | T: 202.473.7552