CRIF establishes a full-fledged credit bureau in Brunei

CRIF has announced today that, after having been awarded (Dec 30, 2016) the international tender issued by the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD), the project is about to be concluded. The AMBD – a statutory body acting as the central bank of Brunei Darussalam - is already using the new credit bureau system in Brunei.

The establishment of the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) underscores the commitment of the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to achieve and maintain a sound and dynamic financial system by continuously implementing appropriate measures, and promoting reforms to support national economic development objectives. Marking another important milestone in the development of the financial sector, the AMBD selected CRIF as its strategic partner to develop a world-class credit bureau in Brunei. In light of its international track record in managing similar projects in other Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, as well as on a worldwide level, CRIF will not only provide a state-of-the-art data sharing platform for credit information, but also added-value risk management services, such as fast-start credit bureau scoring models, predictive analytical tools, portfolio alerting systems and consulting activities.

In compliance with the local legal framework, the credit bureau platform system developed by CRIF will gather positive (on-time loan repayments) and negative (defaults and late payments) credit information on individuals and businesses from eligible Bruneian lenders. Specifically, lenders will be able to make faster and more accurate decisions based on detailed borrower credit profiles to assess creditworthiness and better understand payment patterns. The availability of a full and updated credit history will also reward diligent borrowers, and facilitates access to credit for consumers and businesses, allowing them to obtain more favorable loan conditions and prevent the risk of over-indebtedness.

Economic growth during the 1990s and 2000s, with GDP increasing 56% from 1999 to 2008, transformed Brunei into an industrialized country, and it now ranks as one of the richest nations due to its oil and natural gas fields. Considering the context, the CRIF credit bureau, the first in the country, is expected to trigger important changes in credit risk management, from strategy through to operations, and provide better practices and powerful predictive tools to optimize decision-making processes.

“We are proud of our selection by the AMBD, and we are working to build-up a long-lasting collaboration in the coming years. The development of a fully-fledged credit bureau is key to continuing the development and consolidation of the Bruneian credit and financial market. By centralizing and increasing data sharing, the credit bureau will facilitate access to credit for businesses and consumers as we have already experienced in other countries worldwide, and further consolidate financial market evolution”, concluded Davide Michele Meo, CRIF Sales and Direct Markets Director.

Alessio Milani, Senior Manager International Delivery added “Delivering a world-class credit bureau system in Brunei for the AMBD, and replacing the previous system, has been a very interesting and successful project. The whole plan included delivery, installation, configuration and data migration from existing credit bureau data repository, as well as the provisioning of value added services on top of the credit bureau. Also, consumer interests have been taken into consideration thanks to an online self-enquiry functionality to allow consumers to access their own credit history”.