CRIB goes digital to expand financial horizon

From left: CRIB Director General /Manager Pushpike Jayasundera, CRIB Chairman and Central Bank Deputy Governor J. P. R. Karunarathne and Central Bank Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe at the launch of the Business Analytics, Credit Stat, Monitoring and Alerts and Secured Transaction Registry

•   Adopts inclusive model with credit score for SMEs

By Darshana Abayasingha

The Credit Rating Information Bureau of Sri Lanka (CRIB) last week laid out its digital roadmap towards greater inclusion, and unveiled plans to develop a dynamic credit score for Small and Medium Enterprises and expand its coverage to previously unbanked segments.

Addressing the gathering, CRIB Director/General Manager Pushpika Jayasundera, described 2024 as a transformative year for his institution, as it shed its image as a traditional repository of credit data to a dynamic and digitally empowered agency. He noted that over the past eight months, CRIB has doubled its database with the addition of data on gold loans, pawning, margin trading and factoring, further enhancing their listed profiles and speed of service.

CRIB...

“We have not reached the ideal future-ready world yet, but we are well into the transformative journey. Envision a future where the public are fully aware of their financial standing where we eliminate utility bills and documents from local authorities. Similarly, we will expand to serve small and medium scale enterprises and micro-finance institutions. In July, CRIB will launch the Secure Transaction Registry to enable SMEs and underbanked individuals to use movable assets as collateral. Let’s build a resilient, inclusive and data driven future,” Jayasundera averred. 

The Director also noted the new CRIB has enhanced access to banks and financial institutions and with the growth of financial literacy in Sri Lanka, the future presents greater opportunities. CRIB is aligning with regional counterparts such as India, Indonesia, Philippines and Taiwan to offer advanced dynamic products and moving slowly towards cross border data sharing supporting both migrant workers and foreign investors into Sri Lanka.

The Chief Guest at the event was Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, who underscored the importance of opening out services to the underbanked segments, and empowering SMEs.

“We must encourage small scale borrowers and entrepreneurs to improve their credit status and bankability. Access to granular data such as those now offered by CRIB has enabled policy makers to make timely evidence-based decisions to stabilise the economy. CRIB can support the expansion of a broader digital financial ecosystem, and integrate alternate data sources that are currently excluded from the formal system,” the Governor said.

Dr. Weerasinghe recognised the advancements made by CRIB in the recent past, reducing lead times and information asymmetries between lenders and borrowers. He stressed on the need to be on par with global best practices on process and accountability.

At the annual event, CRIB also announced the launch of a Portfolio Management tool to help banks and finance companies manage large credit portfolios with real time analytical insight. It also presented ‘Credit Stat,’ a tool that provides institutions with detailed monthly performance numbers including risk exposure to support data driven decision making. CRIB is also at an advanced stage of developing a mobile app. Several small to large-scale financial services providers that excelled at sharing data with CRIB were also recognised during the event.