Credit information and reports can now be accessed on the mobile phone. The development by Metropol Credit Bureau will allow users to access credit information on an SMS platform.
Credit information sharing has been lauded by lenders in the recent past as having been beneficial. Lenders use credit information to establish the ease of borrowers to pay back the money they are to lend. The use of mobile phones is expected to boost access of credit reports by individuals which has been low compared to use by institutions.
Speaking at the launch of the SMS product, Metropol’s CEO Mr Sam Omukoko said that currently, people who want access to their credit report have to physically visit credit bureaus. He added that few people access their credit reports despite legal provisions that each person existing on the bureau database is entitled to one free credit report per year.
Organization and individual borrowers have in the past urged banks to not only release negative borrowing habits but also share good borrowing and repayment traits. Last month, a black listing of 203,518 individuals and 9,954 businesses as bad debtors by April last year last was released to lenders. This will effectively see them lose out on loans for at least seven years.