Creditinfo Localises Credit Scoring, Cites High Credit Card Usage
Jamaica’s loan market was valued at $544 billion throughout the banking system at the end of 2015. Credit-card transactions in that year topped $212 billion. It reflected an annual increase of 10.6 per cent in the value of transactions, while volumes rose 13.5 per cent to 14.7 million transactions, according to Central Bank data.
From May 2016, Creditinfo Jamaica will now provide localised credit scores. Previously, although Creditinfo Jamaica provided access to credit scores since October 2013, the score offered then was based on an expert model. Simply put, the model used then was based on certain features from another market with vast similarities to Jamaica. The localisation of credit scores typically requires nine to 18 months of consecutive data and a rigorous assessment process. The localised score model will help both consumers and lenders as it is more predictable than the expert model and therefore affords a better decision process for subscribers.
Key Findings from the World Bank
The World Bank gave some key findings at the BNM-IFC Credit Infrastructure conference
The World Bank Group gave some interesting key findings during the conference in Kuala Lumpur where Paul spoke on the 4th of April. The key findings are related to the positive relationship between access to finance and job growth.
Key Findings:
- Increased access to finance results in increased job growth in developing countries
- Firms with access to a loan exhibit employment growth between 1 and 3 percentage points larger than firms with no access to finance
- Introduction of credit bureaus (CBs) increases employment growth by over 5 percentage points compared to countries where CBs do not exist
- Association between finance and job growth is stronger among MSMEs than among large firms
- MSME firms with access to a loan have between a 1 and 4 percentage point larger employment growth than MSMEs without a loan
- Introduction of CBs elicits a job growth response among MSMEs that is over six times larger than that among large firms
Click on the link below to see more detailed pages of the Key Findings
http://chronicle.creditinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CRINFRA2016_Pre-Session_Mahesh-Tony.pdf
Or visit the World Bank’s Website for more info
http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialsector/brief/credit-infrastructure
New name for Czech Republic
After 27 years the Czech President, Prime Minister and the other top country officials have finally agreed that not having a one word name for the country and using Czech Republic instead is too long. They asked the United Nations to officially recognize “Czechia” as an alternative country name. Together with this demand they also asked it for other foreign-language equivalents, such as la Tchéquie in French. So, they finally took the name which existed already in the 18th century and made it a one word name for the country. Now we can call them “Czechia” in casual communication!
Creditinfo working with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
On April 14th 2016, Creditinfo and vice-governor of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe signed a contract for the delivery of Creditinfo’s Credit Bureau Solution, CB5. Communication and negotiation took place over a number of months throughout 3 key tender applications. The CB5 system will be used by 18 banks, 120 MFIs and also 4 Public Credit Bureaus currently operating in Zimbabwe. The most challenging part of this contract is delivery time, with just 12 weeks from implementation to live launch. Radek Bittner (Sales), Tomáš Tichý (Business Consultant) and Michal Dostál (Project Manager) were the 3 man delegation who visited Harare for the finalisation of the contract agreement and who delivered the 1st project Workshop for customisation of system parameters.
Meet some of our colleagues in Latvia
As you know, in January we told you about the developments of the CBS system designed for Latvia. So we thought you’d like to meet some of the team and if you have any questions about this or in general, you can contact them at info@kib.lv
Currently, the team is just 6 people:
Martin Paupers, Product Product and Process Development Manager (pictured far Left)
Janis TImermanis, CEO (2nd from left), Ligia Greiere, Customer Service Manager (2nd from right)
Intars Mikelsons, Sales & Business Development Manager (Far Right),
Brigita Mironova, Direct Sales Manager (not pictured) and Peteris Reiters, Customer Service (not pictured)
The Creditinfo Family is growing – Now more than 400 employees
In the last 3 years, we have more than doubled our number of employees, through acquisitions, new start ups, new partnerships and our original offices growing in strength and requiring more staff to cope with the increased work load.
Many of our staff have been with the organisation more than 7 years, some well in excess of a decade. Not only do we have a loyal core team, we also have some very experienced and knowledgeable people.
3rd Regional CIS Conference in Kenya
Credit Information Sharing association (CIS) regional conferences are held in Nairobi to help create awareness on the developments of CIS in Kenya and the region. This is a 2 day regional conference arranged by CIS Kenya, followed by a 2 day National Business Community Summit.
Þórhallur Jóhannsson joined the Creditinfo family as Chief Finance Officer for the Group
On the 15th February, Þórhallur Jóhannsson joined the Creditinfo family as Chief Finance Officer for the Group. We have to admit, we took rather a long time in finding the right person, but we believe it was worth the wait. This means that Tryggvi can finally go back to focusing on the Icelandic operation. We are grateful for him for basically doing two jobs at the same time and feel a bit (but only a bit!) guilty about taking so long in making the change.
Central bank of Belarus presented Creditinfo model for commercial banks
The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus recently presented the Creditinfo developed credit score in a specialized banking magazine.
Winning in Morocco – Sign agreement
On Wednesday 17th February, Creditinfo and Bank Al-Maghrib (the Moroccan central bank), represented by its Managing Director (pictured centre), signed the new delegation management contract related to the Moroccan Credit Bureau, this agreement allows Creditinfo to continue the operation of the Moroccan credit bureau for a period of 25 years, and to provide banks; finance institutions and microfinance institutions with credit information on consumers and companies through standard Credit reports in addition to value added products that should be implemented in the coming months. Kristinn (Kiddi) Agnarsson, Head of Credit Bureau Exoansion signed on behalf of Creditinfo (pictured left).
