Global Credit Bureau Program (GCBP) News

Kenya: First Credit Bureau Approved by Central Bank–Kenya’s central bank approved “in principle” the country’s first credit bureau, giving lenders better access to client’s credit histories.  The Kenya-based Credit Reference Bureau Africa is expected to get its full permit from the central bank and start operating in the next few months once it passes a security audit and on-site inspection, Governor Njuguna Ndung’u told reporters on August 27 in the capital, Nairobi. For more information, click here.

Ghana: Launch of XDSData Ghana Limited, Country’s First Credit Bureau– The first credit reference bureau in Ghana and West Africa, XDS Data Ghana Limited, has begun operations with an official launch in Ghana in June 2009. Mr Dela Selormey, Head of Banking Supervision of Bank of Ghana attested to the fact that, to promote the orderly development of a credible credit reporting system in Ghana, Parliament enacted the Credit Reporting Act 2007 (Act 726).  Mr Vivian Pather, Managing Director of XDSDATA South African, was hopeful that the bureau will serve its intended purpose by enhancing the opportunity of Small  And Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and people in the informal sector to access credit, since the growth of the country’s economy hinges on the success of its SMEs.  IFC supported the development of an enabling legal and business environment for establishing Ghana’s first credit bureau. For more information, click here.

Mongolia: IFC Supports Greater Sharing of Credit Information – IFC, the Mongolian Bankers Association and USAID hosted a conference for bankers, regulators, politicians, business associations and other stakeholders in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on improving the credit information environment on April 6, 2009. The conference was attended by over 100 participants who learned about the global trends and best practices in credit information sharing legal and regulatory issues and discussed the challenges of establishing and operating a private credit bureau in Mongolia. IFC Principal Operations Officer Colin Raymond said, “There is an important need for a private credit bureau in Mongolia”. The Mongolian Bankers Association welcomed the initiative for greater information sharing as a necessary step towards boosting bank competition in a difficult environment. For more information, click here.

IFC's Global Credit Bureau Program under the Access to Finance Business Line is organizing its first semi-annual Practice Group meeting for 2009. The meeting will take place at IFC's office in Cairo on March 30 and March 31, 2009. For a more detailed agenda, please click here.

IFC Supports Workshop on Financial Inclusion — The Advisory Group on APEC Financial System Capacity-Building, the APEC Business Advisory Council, the Asian Development Bank Institute, and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, in collaboration with the Foundation for Development Cooperation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation are organizing a workshop on Promoting Financial Inclusion through Innovative Policies. The workshop, which will take place March 31 - April 3, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, aims to provide a peer-to-peer learning and knowledge-sharing platform among policy makers that will enhance their capacity to develop an innovative and enabling policy environment for financial inclusion. The workshop also seeks to provide a basis for the design of a policy initiative on financial inclusion that will be proposed to the APEC Finance Ministers. The results of the workshop will be published in a report and distributed to relevant officials, particularly APEC Finance Ministers and Senior Finance Officials, and to regulators and influential private sector organizations in the Asia-Pacific region. IFC has been requested to participate and contribute to the dialogue on building inclusive financial identities

Lebanon: IFC Supports Development of Private Credit Bureaus — IFC, Visa International, and the Association of Banks in Lebanon held a roundtable to share international best practices for developing private credit bureaus, L'Orient Le Jour reports. IFC Country Officer Julia Brickell said, "Credit bureaus are a crucial building block that enable greater access to finance for both individuals and small businesses, thus inducing healthier financial systems. This workshop is yet another major step toward meeting this need in the country.’’ Related stories, Al Liwa, Al Mustaqbal, Annahar, Al Balad, Al Akhbar.

Next Generation Access to Finance: Gaining Scale and Reducing Costs with Tecnology and Credit Scoring (September 17-19, 2007, Washington DC) — IFC's Global Credit Bureau Program (GCBP) and CGAP, in collaboration with Visa International, organized a three-day conference to raise global awareness on the importance of new technologies and credit reporting in access to finance, featuring speakers from well known microfinance institutions, technology providers, policy makers and donors. The conference also hosted a trade fair showcasing latest innovations and products from leading technology and credit information providers in the field. Click here for more information on conference details. Conference materials, including speaker presentations and conference proceedings will also be made available shortly on this website. To read the latest press release on the event, please click here.

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due: BBL on April 24, 2007—featured presentations by guest speakers from the Political and Economic Research Council and Brookings Institute. The discussion was based on the Political and Economic Research Council's recent publication on the use of non-traditional and alternative data to bridge the lending information gap to sectors that are generally excluded from traditional credit lines. For access to full text of the paper click here.

Pakistan: IFC Supports Development Of Local Credit Bureau Services—IFC PEP-MENA will assist Datacheck, Pakistan's leading consumer credit bureau, to develop credit bureau services in order to provide local lending institutions with the latest tools to manage credit risk, the Business Recorder reports. IFC Director Michael Essex said, “It is … essential that the market has timely and accurate information to help it make more informed consumer credit decisions and adopt proven lending practices.” Related stories, Pakistan Observer, Dawn, Frontier Post, Statesman, Daily Times, News International, Pakistan Times, Daily Jang.

For further information on the Global Credit Bureau Program, contact:
Shalini Sankaranarayanan | Email: SSankar1@ifc.org