The objective of IFC Advisory Services' Credit Information Services program is to support the creation and the effective use of credit information and reporting services in the region. IFC has unique positioning and extensive experience in promoting credit information services around the world through its Global Credit Bureau Program, which employs world-class experts, with many year of experience in the industry.
What Does the Program Offer?
- Advice to existing bureaus on expanding or enhancing their services
- Advice to private sector parties on starting-up new bureaus
- Advice to governments on the enabling, legal, and regulatory framework for setting up credit bureaus
- Outreach events to raise industry awareness among lenders, borrowers, authorities and the general public
- Institutional capacity building and training for credit bureaus and financial institutions
Expected Outcomes and Impact
The expected outcome of the program is to:
- Create an enabling environment for a sustainable private credit bureau industry
- Establish private credit bureaus in those countries where credit reporting infrastructures are either weak or missing
- Develop the capabilities of existing credit bureaus
- Train credit bureau staff, raise awareness about the creation of an enabling and regulatory environment for credit reporting and the relevance of private credit bureaus for the development of the national economy
The program ultimately expects to enable financial institutions at all levels to make higher quality credit decisions and better manage risk, thus resulting in stronger financial performance and greater access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Key Achievements
From the inception of IFC Advisory Services to the end of fiscal year 2007, the program has been successful at:
- Advising the central bank of Morocco on improving its credit reporting infrastructure to support a sustainable and profitable credit bureau activity
- Providing start-up support to iScore, the newly established Egyptian Credit Bureau, including technical and business advice
- Advising SIMAH, the Saudi Credit Bureau, on developing its reporting services to include small and medium enterprises and corporations
- Providing support to DataCheck, the leading private credit bureau in Pakistan, to extend credit scoring services to its clients
- Organizing a Gulf Cooperation Council Roundtable, in coordination with Visa International, on the credit reporting industry in which various financial institutions from the GCC participated
Eligible Partners & Clients
The program provides start–up assistance to new private credit bureaus; capacity building assistance to existing credit bureaus; legal and regulatory advice to governments and regulators for creating an enabling legal environment for credit information sharing and awareness raising activities to credit providers; and advice to regulators and entrepreneurs about the role, benefits and challenges of credit bureaus.
Examples of Projects
In Egypt, IFC Advisory Services helped iScore, the first, newly-established bank-owned credit bureau, in its start-up phase. The objective of the project was to establish a successful and operational credit bureau. To achieve this goal, IFC Advisory Services has done the following:
- Developed a technical assessment, which included the definition of the key operational parameters of the bureau and also included recommendations to iScore’s customer banks addressing necessary technological and informational improvements
- Developed a business plan for iScore, including investment requirements and detailed financial projections
- Advised iScore in the choice of a strategic technical partner
In Morocco, the program advised the central bank of Morocco on the necessary improvements to the credit reporting infrastructure. The objective is to support the creation of a sustainable, profitable private credit bureau in the country. IFC’s advisory services consisted of the following:
- Assessing the central bank's credit registry to determine its suitability as a base for the new credit bureau
- Conducting a market study to assess the technical readiness of banks to share data with the bureau
- Advising on a best practice legal and regulatory environment for the private credit bureau
- Developing the request for proposals in support of the tender process to license a credit bureau
- Facilitating a study tour for officials from the central bank to Italy and Singapore to visit best practice credit bureaus
- Holding a nation-wide conference to raise awareness about the new credit bureau
The first private credit bureau license in Morocco is expected be issued in September 2007, while the credit bureau is planned to start operations in the spring of 2008.
In Saudi Arabia, IFC Advisory Services assisted SIMAH, the bank-owned credit bureau, in developing commercial and small and medium enterprises reporting and automated rating tools, in addition to their current consumer reporting. The objective was to provide the lending community with up-to-date, accurate and on-line information on commercial borrowers and facilitate access to finance for small enterprises. To achieve this goal, IFC Advisory Services developed for SIMAH:
- A business plan for the proposed small and medium enterprise credit bureau, including investment requirements and detailed financial projections over a five year horizon
- A detailed implementation plan
- A make-or-buy analysis for the development of a small and medium enterprise credit bureau system
- Recommendations for required public sector support including possible regulatory and legal changes and improvements and/or access to public databases relevant to small and medium enterprise reporting
- Identification and comparison of potential strategic partners with international expertise in both commercial reporting and scoring
For additional information contact:
Mohammad Shohaieb
Operations Officer
E-mail:
mshohaieb@ifc.org 
