Hungary: CRIF Zrt is establishing the country’s first full fledged credit bureau, providing the full credit history of Hungarian borrowers

The CRIF Zrt credit bureau gathers credit information from Hungarian lenders, in line with local laws. The full fledged credit bureau, including both positive and negative credit information on individuals and businesses, will be beneficial to both credit applicants and financial institutions. Specifically, lenders  will be able to access comprehensive, high-quality and monthly updated credit reports on applicants, and consequently will be better able to segment their client portfolio through a risk based pricing approach. This will help prevent over-indebtedness, inactive credit, insolvencies, and bad rates, to the benefit of both borrowers and lenders, and help lenders better manage the renewal process by taking into account both risk and propensity profiles. This will also make it easier for individuals and businesses who have a good credit history to get credit.

“CRIF is very glad to implement the first Hungarian credit bureau based on positive and negative information”, explained Enrico Lodi, General Manager of Credit Bureau Services at CRIF. “Our successful experience in delivering similar solutions in Europe (e.g. Italy, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic) make us confident that significant advantages will also be provided to Hungarian lenders and borrowers. On the one hand, the availability of a full credit history will give Hungarian citizens and businesses easier access to credit, as well as providing more favorable conditions to reliable applicants. On the other hand, Hungarian banks and financial institutions will be more confident in their management of the financial exposure of consumers and can avoid excessive risk assumption.”

• to consumers, by informing and educating them on how the credit bureau works and is used by banks and financial institutions, as well as outlining the benefits of having access to credit.
  
  
• to banks and financial institutions, by enabling data integration in accordance with legal requirements, and matching credit risk assessment variables with internal policies. CRIF will also offer additional tools such as the credit bureau score to maximize the value of credit reports and the application processing system, enabling credit institutions to efficiently manage credit applications submitted by individuals and businesses.

“Thanks to regular and frequent updates and the focus on reports containing all available credit information, the CRIF credit bureau will be the most complete and up-to-date in the country. Lenders will be better able to assess the creditworthiness of consumers prior to entering into a credit agreement through a comprehensive picture of the credit status of applicants, in compliance with the principles of responsible lending and financial sustainability set out in the EU Consumer Credit Directive. At the same time, consumers will get better advice and be offered credit products which consider their ability to repay”, added Harald Heschl, Senior Regional Manager at CRIF.