Experian gets final nod for credit bureau

Experian Credit Information Co has received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a credit bureau in the country, it announced on Thursday. The bureau will have to begin operations within six months.

“Now that we have the licence, we will begin the process of collecting credit data from lenders,” said Phil Nolan, the newly-appointed managing director of Experian Credit Bureau.

In November 2009, Experian formed a credit information company in India by roping in seven partners, including Axis Bank, Federal Bank, Indian Bank, Magma Fincorp, Punjab National Bank, Sundaram Finance and Union Bank of India.

At present, Credit Information Bureau (Cibil) is the only functional credit bureau in the country.

“Cibil has a 5-year headstart and that is a big advantage. But, the advantage for us is that data sharing principles have already been established in the country. This will make our job simpler,” said Nolan.

In April last year, RBI had granted an in-principal approval to four credit bureaus, including Cibil, Experian, Equifax Information Services and Higmark Credit Information Services.

In January this year, Equifax announced about setting up a credit bureau in joint venture with six Indian partners, including Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Prime, Religare Finvest, Sundaram Finance and Union Bank of India.