CRIF contributed to the debate, bringing its international experience and best practices in the development of credit information systems, and explaining the extent of impacts on the local economy and credit industry. Enrico Lodi pointed out the relevance of the contents of the latest edition of the IFC Credit Reporting Knowledge Guide, “It brings together and sets out the state-of-the-art in public credit registries and private credit bureaus in emerging markets, highlighting the amazing progress achieved during last decade thanks to the outstanding job of the IFC Access to Finance Advisory”, he continued “However persisting difficulties in the establishment or consolidation of public credit registries and private credit bureaus in some emerging countries may require additional effort and actions”.
Enrico Lodi was also invited to join FinNet 2013, the flagship annual knowledge-sharing event of the IFC Access to Finance Advisory, focusing on bridging the knowledge gap around access to finance issues and sharing the lessons learned on creating more inclusive financial systems. He gave a speech on Credit Reporting and SMEs: Making the Data Work for Access to Finance. “Looking at Italian case studies, the more data are shared on SME financial performance, the greater the willingness of lenders to provide or to increase credit facilities to SMEs showing good creditworthiness. It must be said, that to achieve full financial inclusion of SMEs with no or a poor credit history, key stakeholders, in particular governments and data protection authorities, need to become more supportive and facilitate the inclusion of ‘non-financial’ data, such as bill payments, in the information pool managed by private credit bureaus”.
