Business sector gets booster training on risk management

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 20:59 by GxMedia

Representatives of several institutions in the financial, retail and telecommunication sectors have been trained how to help their companies strengthen risk management with assistance from the Credit Bureau being operated by CreditInfo.

The training was conducted by experts from Creditinfo Academy was recently invited to deliver at a two day workshop in Guyana, held at Cara Lodge in Georgetown.   The training was attended by 23 senior representatives from the banking, credit union, retail lending and telco sector. 

“The goal was to enable participants to gain a better understanding and  ability to improve risk management in the new era of credit bureau.  Throughout the numerous workshop sessions conducted, the training was interactive, including hands on computer experience extracting credit reports from the Creditinfo Guyana system,” according to a statement released by CreditInfo (Guyana).

In the first session, attendees learnt that the impact of a credit bureau is  frequently underestimated and the time to act is now, if the lenders do not want to lose out competitively.  Naturally, given the government has made a huge investment in changing the law, it is imperative for banks and other lenders to act now to do their part to provide data and change their processes to integrate credit bureau into their processes. 

Attendees were shown case studies of the impact in other countries across the world where access to finance had grown considerably and especially for SMEs who are often seen as a motor for growth.  Furthermore, banks have more efficient procedures and control on bad debts which leads to a more stable banking environment.

In the second session, attendees were given a real insight of how they can use credit reports to change the decisions of every loan application.  Individuals and business applicants will be judged objectively on the real evidence of their historical payments removing much of the subjective element.  Working in teams, the attendees were able to discuss the practical issues while on-line to Creditinfo Guyana’s system and credit reports.  Together they shared experiences with their peers from different institutions.

On day two, the focus turned to credit scoring, a technique widely used across the globe for credit assessment, and already in use in a few financial institutions and retail lenders in Guyana.  A detailed overview of credit scoring processes was explained and some of the myths surrounding the techniques were debunked.  The participants were shown how scoring will be delivered as one of the key components of the credit bureau and what types of factors will be behind it.

The subject of the final session was how to integrate credit bureau and credit scoring into an organisation’s process, as these vital tools support the decision making in financial institutions, telcos and other credit lending organisations.  In the workshop session, teams worked to established business rules for credit decisions based on the risk of payment and non payment.

At the review session, participants reflected upon what they had learnt and highlighted their understanding of the importance played by banks executives and other lenders in accelerating the progress of the data transfer to the credit bureau in order to benefit the economy of Guyana, for the success of the financial services sector and  ultimately, for the people of Guyana.  Furthermore, the participants felt that they personally were much better informed to support this process armed with the knowledge they had gained from the Creditinfo Academy training workshops.

Mr Paul Randall and Mr Radek Bittner two of the Creditinfo Academy trainers delivering the workshop in Guyana, were pleased to have such positive feedback from this event.  

For more information about these events and future planned workshops, please go to: http://www.creditinfo.com/credit-bureau-solutions/consultation-and-training/ 

Creditinfo is a leading worldwide service provider of credit information and credit risk management solutions, including tools for decision making, models and software. Creditinfo Group, established in 1997, has been among the fastest growing companies in its field. It is often the preferred partner of local Credit Bureaus having been shortlisted and awarded several tenders supported by the World Bank, IFC, Millenium Challenge Corporation and other international organizations.

The most recent ones are in Tanzania (Central Bank), Sudan (Central Bank), Cape Verde (Chamber of Commerce), Afghanistan (Central Bank) and Senegal. Creditinfo’s strength is the establishment of credit bureaus in emerging credit markets and hosting, managing and providing credit and credit related data to customers, either directly or through our partner agreements.