Compuscan Uganda was proud to be associated with the 2010 Banking, Finance and Insurance Conference and Exhibition (BFI) as this year's lead sponsor as well as being awarded for 'Oustanding Product & Service Innovation' at the expo.
The Credit Bureau is beginning to play a critical role in all aspects of financial transactions in Uganda and we believe that our involvement this year as the lead sponsors is paramount to help raise awareness of the importance of credit for large corporate organisations, SMME organisations, and individuals.
Credit in an economy if properly used as a business tool can stimulate the economic value chain. Traditionally however banks and lenders have been cautious to issue the type of credit needed to create an economic impact due to an inability to properly identify their customers and more specifically to see on a recorded register, how these customers can handle credit.
Compuscan has brought this ability to the large-scale lenders in Uganda, and has set about issuing smart cards to identify Uganda’s borrowing population using biometric technology. There are now more than 500 enrolment and verification stations set up in every branch of every bank, credit institution and MDI across Uganda from as far as Kabale in the South West to Arua in the North, even covering the areas of Moroto and Kotido in the North East. If it’s the water you like, you could even get your financial card on Ssese Islands.
If there is a bank branch somewhere, you can bet we have an enrolment station. Since mid 2009 banks have been working full steam ahead with Compuscan to issue cards to their borrowing customers and already 220,000 financial sector identification cards have been issued. The Financial Card System is designed to ensure that each borrower only receives one identity number linked to their fingerprints.
At each month end banks are required to supply to Compuscan a view of how their loan customers are repaying their debts. Bounced cheques are also reported to the bureau. The unique number from the financial card is used when reporting of data is done, and in this way Compuscan is able to link loans and other data together. A staggering amount of information is being collected from all the banks in the financial sector collectively and it is being used by the banks to make better, more informed credit decisions.
With better quality information at your disposal, it becomes easier to make better quality lending decisions. In response to the arrival of the credit bureau we have seen first- hand how some banks are seeing an immediate improvement in collection of arrears, and how others are starting to re-shape their lending policies as they look to new ways to use the information in their lending decisions.
Innovation in lending is one of the expected outcomes of the introduction of a credit bureau in a market. Some banks are always one step ahead of the others and are constantly thinking about ways that they can use the new information to their advantage, and specifically to their customer’s advantage. Credit information allows for faster loan approval turnaround times, the introduction of new tailored lending products, reduced costs in lending and naturally reduced losses as risks become less. These savings are often translated into savings for the customers in the form of lower interest rate offers, with softer or easier terms in which to repay the debt.
Compuscan have now been active in Uganda for a little over two years spending every minute of every waking day working with the banks either at their head offices or in the field and we have come to truly know and understand how to play a meaningful support role to the banks in Uganda. Customer support is critical to us in terms of service support and we have gone as far as appointing our own staff in certain banks to work within the bank, with the network teams to provide continuity and support to ensure branches (and bank customers) are receiving the fastest turnaround times possible. We believe that the service industry in which we (all) operate is about the client and about the delivery of the service.
Compuscan's involvement in this year's conference and exhibition is because we also believe in the principle of sharing knowledge and skills to achieve economic growth. Our business is about data sharing, but our involvement here is about knowledge sharing. Conferences, Industry fairs and company exhibitions are an important aspect of knowledge transfer for organisations to learn from the experience of each other and we believe fundamentally that in order to grow, and develop this economy a double edged sword will certainly aid Uganda along the way. Knowledge sharing in the sector and the creation of the platform for banks to lend more effectively are our contribution to Uganda.
For more information on the above event, please visit their website at http://www.bfi-expo.com
Should you have any comments with regards to this article, please do not hesitate to contact our Uganda Office at Tel: +256 41 434 7563 or info@compuscan.co.ug
