| Entities | Association of Consumer Credit Information Suppliers (ACCIS) (3) |
| Topics and Issues |
ACCIS released a white paper on the complementarity of public and private credit reporting in Europe to promote responsible lending. While this paper is helpful to understanding the European credit reporting marketplace, it must be contextualized for the American reader. Importantly, the white paper notes the differences between public credit registries and private credit bureaus. American readers should note that a public credit registry is not the same thing as a public credit bureau as some policymakers in the U.S. have proposed to be adopted in the U.S. Additional information on the differences can be found here: https://www.cdiaonline.org/federal-review/2021/08/02/expanded-public-credit-registries-may-harm-lower-income-borrowers/.
The ACCIS white paper, Complementarity of public and private credit reporting in Europe to promote responsible lending, explains
that different European countries make credit data available in different ways. Whilst some rely entirely on private credit bureaus (PCBs), a very small number rely entirely on public credit registers (PCRs). There are also countries where both PCBs and PCRs coexist. Countries with more comprehensive credit data and more sophisticated products are those where PCRs and PCBs operate in a stable and complementary way. Countries should, therefore, choose policies that ensure complementarity between PCBs and PCRs. Conversely, countries should discard policies that unbalance the complementarity between PCBs and PCRs and make it unsustainable for PCBs to operate. The white paper highlights policies that can be implemented to ensure PCBs can operate sustainably and in a way that increases availability of comprehensive credit information thereby promoting responsible lending.
ACCIS is the voice of companies responsibly managing data to assess the financial credibility of consumers and businesses. Established as an association in 1990, ACCIS brings together more than 40 members from countries all over Europe as well as associates and affiliates across the globe.