Credit Bureaus Strengthening Lending Decisions, Helping to Reduce NPLs — BoG Governor
Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Asiama, has highlighted the significant impact of Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) agencies on Ghana’s financial sector, noting that their operations have strengthened credit risk assessment, improved loan recovery and supported a more disciplined credit market.
Responding to a question at the 127th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press briefing on the performance and challenges of credit bureaus, Dr Asiama explained that the credit reporting framework has enhanced information sharing among lenders and reduced the information gaps that historically plagued borrower assessments.
“The credit reporting system facilitates the sharing of credit information among lenders to reduce information asymmetry usually characterised by limited knowledge about borrowers’ past repayment behaviours,” he stated.
According to the Governor, credit bureaus have become an integral part of pre-lending evaluations, enabling banks to assess the repayment history of prospective borrowers before loans are approved. This, he noted, has supported stronger credit discipline across the sector.
“We are happy about how banks have applied this requirement, particularly as an exclusion criterion in credit appraisals where customers who have bad credit reports are denied credit facilities. This certainly has impacted positively on NPL levels which currently stands at 19.5%,” Dr Asiama said.
He further revealed that credit bureaus have become instrumental in supporting loan recoveries, especially within the fast-growing digital lending space. Mobile money (MoMo) loan defaults captured in credit reports, he said, are now being actively recovered due to improved visibility and tracking systems.
Additionally, banks now have access to a wider pool of credit data beyond the traditional banking environment. Current bureau databases include information on MoMo loans, SSNIT loans, rent payments, hire purchase agreements and other forms of consumer credit.
“We are currently in discussions with key stakeholders such as the utility companies and other credit providers to onboard them onto the credit reporting system,” he added.
Despite the progress, Dr Asiama acknowledged lingering challenges, including poor data quality, delayed or non-submission of credit information by lenders and limited cooperation from certain credit data sources.
To address these concerns, he disclosed that the Bank is working with stakeholders to enhance data governance, with plans underway to establish a credit data hub to consolidate all credit data sources. The initiative, he said, is expected to significantly improve data quality and support more robust credit scoring services to complement credit reports.
“We believe that this will improve data quality and facilitate credit bureaus’ credit scoring services to augment credit report usage,” Dr Asiama stated.
