To reduce the risk associated with lending, the Bank of Ghana has instructed telecommunications firms, financial technology companies, mobile money operators, and utility suppliers, among other businesses, to submit information on borrowers’ credit behavior.

Retailers, government institutions that offer credit to MSMEs, institutions that provide identification documents, entities that supply goods and services on a post-paid or installment basis, private or government-run Student Loan Schemes, and other entities are all required to provide information about their clients to the Credit Reporting System (CRS) database.

According to the order, the action will assist encourage the sharing of debtor credit history information with lenders and other CRS users, since credit information exchange benefits both lenders and borrowers by allowing lenders and creditors to better analyze each borrower’s or debtor’s credit risk.

The new regulation, according to the bank, would help to allow differentiated credit delivery and pricing, as well as submit credit information on their clients to all Credit Bureaus regulated by the Bank of Ghana within 72 hours of entering into a credit arrangement or facility. This will guarantee that credit reports on potential consumers are received prior to entering into credit transactions with them.

The new directive, according to the regulator, will allow the above-mentioned entities to obtain information on their clients’ credit behavior prior to establishing credit relationships, while also ensuring that the information they provide to the CRS on their customers’ credit behavior aids other creditors in making prudent credit decisions.

The Bank of Ghana has licensed three credit bureaus to offer credit reporting services to licensed financial institutions and the above-mentioned categories of organizations since the implementation of Act 726 in 2007.

XDS Data Ghana Limited, Dun & Bradstreet Credit Bureau Limited, and HudsonPrice Data Solutions Limited are the licensed credit bureaus.

The Bank of Ghana thus informs the above-mentioned institutions that they must comply with Act 726 by October 31, 2021.