Prior to the pandemic, the shift to digitalization was long overdue for Caribbean financial institutions. Now, the process has been accelerated and institutions want to expand their digital channels and find ways for consumers and employees to protect themselves while offering the same and improved services. CRIF was well aware of this situation and, having started its journey in the Bahamas only 3 years ago, at the start of the pandemic, it is already taking positive steps toward diversification of the credit bureau database and expansion of value-added services.
An important event was held on November 7 by CRIF Bahamas together with Clearing Banks’ Association (CBA) members at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar conference center (Bahamas) to discuss progress of the Credit Bureau initiative and to introduce CRIF Digital Solutions for the customer onboarding process. Participating CBA members included the Bank of The Bahamas Limited, Commonwealth Bank Limited, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) Limited, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited, Scotiabank (Bahamas) Limited, and RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas) Limited.
During the first part of the meeting, the Sales Manager, Marisa Nixon, and the Regional Manager, Enrico Caruso, delivered an insightful presentation on the current progress of the Credit Bureau initiative; reporting on the status of report submission, diversification of providers and CRIF engagement, as well as educational awareness for both consumers and clients.
Feedback regarding technology and infrastructure adaptation was positive and showed the willingness of local banks to expand value-added digital services. The second part of the event was dedicated to CRIF Digital, where Business Development Manager, Marco Vaira, presented the different services that complement the reporting system, including Portfolio Monitoring, Remote Selling, PHYON and CATCH.
