LAST Friday night, I CreditInfo (Guyana) Inc., as the first Credit Bureau in Guyana, held a presentation of the company’s operations at Cara Lodge in Quamina Street, Georgetown, where
Chief Executive Officer Judy Semple–Joseph outlined the work of the Credit Bureau, and highlighted its functions, benefits and policies.

She told reporters that a credit bureau is an organisation that collects credit information on consumers from lenders and other sources, processes that information and uses it to create comprehensive credit reports and other value-added services.

Ms. Semple-Joseph stated that the amalgamated information is supplied in an organised format to banks and other lending institutions or to other persons or entities for specified purposes, but always with written permission of the consumer, who may also be provided with a copy of his/her credit report upon request.

In a Powerpoint presentation to the media on Friday night, Semple-Joseph said that conduct of the business of a credit bureau is governed by the Credit Reporting Act of 2010, which came into effect on June 10, 2010. She, however, introduced the CreditInfo (Guyana) Inc. as the second regional company of a large, well respected Icelandic conglomerate operating out of 16 countries. Its most recent country of operation is Jamaica, and it will soon be launching an operation in Barbados.

Semple-Joseph added that the presence of this business in Guyana was facilitated by means of a rigorous investigation and authentication process which resulted in the bureau being duly licensed by the Bank of Guyana to service the local credit market.

She related that a credit bureau may obtain information primarily from the commercial banks, the non-bank licensed financial institutions, and the utility and hire purchase companies.

Semple-Joseph revealed that processing of the information collected involves matching, cross-checking, merging, analysing, and interpreting the information. She said that everything possible is done to ensure that the information is accurate and relates to the specific consumer, and then the credit bureau compiles the processed information to create a credit report and a credit score.

I CreditInfo (Guyana) Inc. office is located at 267B, New Market Street, Georgetown, but the bureau can also be accessed through its website: www.creditingo.gy.

Also making remarks was Manager of Sales and Business Development, David Falconer, who answered questions posed by the media and spoke about the general operations of the business, which he describes as no “fly by night operation”.
Written By Michel Outridge