This paper provides insights into recent business practices in Southeast Asia and market participants’ views on policy and regulation issues. The research is based on a survey of data issuers, intermediaries, and users (primarily lenders). It focuses on understanding the role of new and alternative data and data providers in making decisions about credit. Some of these new forms of data—including social media data, cell phone data, and data generated from business processes, transactional data, online activity, and others—are being harnessed to support credit-granting decisions. Naturally, a greater number of players now collect, store, handle, and disseminate data relevant for credit-granting purposes, an area that was previously the purview of credit bureaus and credit registries.
