Credit is very important in every economy because it allows consumers to demand goods and services which might have otherwise been unaffordable, thus attain a higher standard of living.
Businesses also can take advantage of market opportunities to expand while entrepreneurs can support their business ideas with borrowed funds, creating jobs and boosting aggregate national output in the process.
Despite the obvious advantages, there is still a credit problem in Nigeria. This problem, however, tilts more towards accessibility than the availability of credit given the considerations that go into the process of granting a loan and other forms of credit issuance.
CRC Credit Bureau Limited has introduced a viable product in the Nigerian market to help people access credit without stress.
The CRC FICO, which is exclusive to the credit bureau, helps financial institutions and lenders understand the creditworthiness of prospective clients which reduces the risk of credit default and the impediments to credit supply.
What is CRC FICO?
The CRC Score assesses the risk of existing and prospective customers for lenders using the FICO 3 digit scoring system.
The CRC Score powered by FICO summarizes credit risk, by merging the contents of a Credit Report at a point in time and representing it, in a 3 digit number.
The CRC Score was developed in collaboration with the Fair Isaac Corporation taking into consideration the unique peculiarities of the Nigerian Market.
The Score ranges from 300 to 850, with 300 being the lowest and 850 the highest. The lower the credit score, the higher the level of riskiness or probability that the customer may default in payment.
The CRC Score is calculated, using the following five parameters:
Amount Owed, Outstanding debt (30%), Payment History (35%), Pursuit of New Credit (10%), Length of Credit History (15%) and Credit Mix (10%)
CRC Credit Bureau went into partnership with FICO in 2017 and is the only Credit Bureau in Nigeria that has access to the FICO scores which are called ‘CRC Scores powered by FICO’
How to access this service
The CRC Score is available to anyone living in Nigeria, who has a Credit History with financial institutions like commercial banks, micro-finance banks, FinTech’s or has enjoyed postpaid services. They can request for the CRC Score online via the CRC website www.crccreditbureau.
As a new customer on the website, you will be required to register with the following information before paying for your CRC Score. They are as follows: Surname, First Name, Middle Name, Email address, Phone Number and Password.
Getting your credit score
After registration and payment, the customer will be re-directed to a webpage, to verify their BVN number and when that has been done, they receive a PIN that is used to access the CRC score on their browser, which is then downloaded directly to their device ( Desktop or Phone)
What FICO means for greater financial inclusion in Nigeria
The CRC Score is already in use by financial institutions in Nigeria, helping them to reduce the time used in processing loan requests from their customers. This help makes for an unbiased, faster and more informed lending process.
With the CRC Score, lenders can clearly understand their future credit risk based on Nigerian industry data, thereby growing their portfolio safely and more profitably.
They can also drive revenue growth by selecting and accepting the right customers for the right products based on acceptable risk criteria.
With the CRC Score, lenders can proactively pre-approve customers for existing loan products based on their scores and reduce customer default levels due to the early identification of customers with the highest risk before loan disbursements. This leads to building and maintaining a healthy portfolio.
For Nigerians, it gives users a quick overview of how they are perceived in the financial space and the level of risk associated with them.
With individual access to credit scores, borrowers can approach lenders for loans or credit without any fear and if their scores are high, allows them to negotiate for lower interest rates on their loan repayments for either business or personal needs.
This also has a ripple effect of giving Nigerians better access to finance which also improves financial inclusion and growth of the economy.
