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TransUnion licensed as credit bureau

TransUnion licensed as credit bureau

“The granting of a credit bureau licence last week to local credit bureau, TransUnion, represents a win-win scenario for consumers and businesses alike, and reflects the growing influence of credit bureaus in financial services across Africa” said its Namibia Country Manager, Marcha Erni.
“The credit bureau industry is key to the sustainable development of an economy’s credit infrastructure. Across Africa, we are seeing more and more countries drive the implementation of the necessary regulatory framework to ensure greater financial inclusion that is underpinned by fair and equal access to credit information by consumers and businesses” she said.
The regulations empower licensed credit bureaus to receive, hold and share ‘full file’ data across the market. This essentially means the processing and transmission of more positive data and not only the ‘flat’, largely negative data of the past. Now that TransUnion Namibia has an approved operating licence, all credit and service providers will be mandated to share the data that they collect on consumers’ ability to service their financial obligations on a monthly basis. “We are excited to see the growing influence of regulations coming into this industry. We believe that it bodes well for both individuals as well as the growth of the economy. The Namibian regulations pave the way for a change in the type of data that can be controlled by credit bureaus“ she elaborated.
“It is important to remember that individual consumers have access to their own credit profiles. This allows individuals to understand their credit history and financial reputation. Everyone needs to keep track of their own credit obligations and we can help consumers to manage their own personal financial reputation and in turn the way lenders view their ability to pay back their loans” added Erni.
But it is not only individual consumers that will benefit from a regulated credit industry. For lenders, the value and quality of the data that a credit bureau can provide is immense. “We are moving into a world in which lending should be responsible as well as profitable. By helping to share credit information between credit and service providers, we are helping to strengthen the decision processes of lenders” she concluded.

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