A Credit Bureau In Nigeria

XDS Solutions to set up credit bureau

XDS Solutions Limited has concluded plans to introduce a credit bureau to provide wider access to credit in the country.


Disclosing this to newsmen in Lagos recently, Managing Director, XDS Solutions, Mr. Ubong Awah said that the company was a risk solution company fostering on developing products and services that turned data in strategic information to ease the burden of credit and risk management.

Awah noted that Nigeria had done a lot in the past to eradicate the scourge of poverty and empower the people to be self sustaining but much had not been achieved because of this missing link in the financial architecture.

He added that the credit information bureau would bridge the information gap that existed when there was need for credit especially in project finance by tracking the financial behaviour of individuals over a period of time.

He also stressed that once such gap was bridged, our people would move from the state of despondency to helping ourselves.

Awah said that the credit bureau would among others things under guard the financial system and help ensure sound financial sector, because it will reduce loads in the system. "The behaviour records of such individuals would be made available to the financial institution, thereby bridging the information gap and building trust between the parties in the transaction," he said.


courtesy of The Guardian



It's about time!

XDS Credit bureau, is the ONLY bureau with operational licence. CRC only has an APPROVAL IN PRINCIPLE (as at the time of this post).
XDS licence number reads CB000001.

A lot of people do not understand the role of granting credit in the economy
In the developed countries, it would be inconceivable nowadays for any business with company customers to operate without granting credit.
The reason for doing so is the same in every case; MORE GOODS will be sold that way.

However the need to facilitate trust between buyer and seller is key. It is important, therefore, for the seller of goods to be confident that the customer has both the intention to pay and the ability to do so.

A credit bureau bridges this gap. The inherent challenge the bureau will face in Nigeria will come from the banking and commercial sector.
To overcome this, CBN with the help of the legislative arm of goverment should make this process madatory. Information shared between industries and banks whereby a system will exisit that will trigger a defaulters past credit history wherever he/she goes (be it Consumer or Trade)

A welcomed development! Can it work? yes. Will it work?

Sound IT infrastructure and periodic auditing  should should keep the bribers at bay.
The only challenge is that the bribers will be the so called regulators,auditors and IT personnel