The European Credit Information Landscape an Analysis of a Survey of Credit Bureaus in Europe
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The European Credit Information Landscape An analysis of a survey of credit bureaus in Europe Marc Rothemund and Maria Gerhardt Industry Survey commissioned by European Credit Research Institute January 2011 The European Credit Information Landscape An analysis of a survey of credit bureaus in Europe ECRI Industry Survey Marc Rothemund Maria Gerhardt February 2011 The European Credit Research Institute (ECRI) is a research institution based in Brussels. Established in 1999 for the study of banking and credit in Europe, ECRI focuses on institutional, economic and legal aspects related to retail finance and credit reporting. The institute provides expert analysis and academic research for a better understanding of the economic and social impact of credit. ECRI supports and funds independent academic research projects. The institute monitors markets and regulatory changes and looks at their impact nationally and internationally. This report does not reflect the opinion of any institution or member associated with ECRI. Established in Dublin in 1990, the Association of Consumer Credit Information Suppliers (ACCIS) is an international non-profit association under Belgian law bringing together 37 consumer credit reference agencies in 27 European countries and 4 associate members from all other continents. ACCIS’ main role consists in representing, promoting, protecting and preserving the common interests of its members. This includes in particular the representation and advocacy of members’ interests’ vis-à-vis government agencies, the public and all other third parties and to inform its members about matters of concern to them, including information about practices of other members. It also tries to coordinate their mutual interests and to represent them in the world committee. ACCIS aims to create a legal climate in which its members can continue to offer and further develop their services both at home and in Europe. The information contained within these materials is the copyright information of ACCIS and/or its members. Content from this report may be reproduced provided that you clearly and conspicuously state the source of the content as follows: "source ACCIS survey 2010”. EUROPEAN CREDIT ASSOCIATION OF CONSUMER CREDIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ECRI) INFORMATION SUPPLIERS (ACCIS) Place du Congrès 1 Rue Defacqz 52 B-1000 Brussels, Belgium B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel.: +32-2-2293911 Tel.: +39 33 51 44 45 96 Fax: +32-2-2194151 Fax: +39 051 417 6010 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: www.ecri.eu Web: www.accis.eu Table of contents Preface i Description of the study and interpretation of data....................................................... ii 1. Market Overview .......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Regulatory Framework ............................................................................................................. 7 2.1 The stance of and interaction with consumer groups ........................................... 8 3. Data collection .............................................................................................................................10 3.1 Type of data collected ......................................................................................................11 3.2 Source of data ......................................................................................................................14 3.3 Reporting thresholds .......................................................................................................16 3.4 Data retention periods ....................................................................................................17 3.5 Data quality and update periods .................................................................................17 4. Access to data ...............................................................................................................................19 4.1 Credit report supply and demand ...............................................................................19 4.2 Data access for user groups ...........................................................................................19 4.3 Means of access to data for user groups ...................................................................21 4.4 Data access and means of access for the data subject .........................................21 Annex 1. Loan data stored per surveyed country ..........................................................24 Annex 2. Access to data by type of organisation .............................................................25 List of Tables Table 1. List of respondents ............................................................................................................. 1 Table 2. Population coverage in countries with ACCIS respondent ................................. 2 Table 3. Founding year and size of credit bureaus ................................................................. 5 Table 4. Products and services provided by credit bureaus ............................................... 5 Table 5. Overview of national regulators and principle regulation ................................. 7 Table 6. Voluntary vs. required sharing of and access to credit data .............................. 8 Table 7. Consumer support of data sharing (# of CBs) ......................................................... 9 Table 8. Storage of positive and negative data on individuals per country ................10 Table 9. Definitions of default (# of CBs) ..................................................................................13 Table 10. The collection and use of footprints (# of CBs) ..................................................14 Table 11. Source of personal data (# of CBs) ..........................................................................15 Table 12. Banks as principal source of data (# of countries) ...........................................16 Table 13. Threshold for data collection on consumers .......................................................16 Table 14. Retention periods of stored information in credit bureau databases (in months) .......................................................................................................................17 Table 15. Update periods for credit records ...........................................................................18 Table 16. Credit files supplied to clients and requests for own file (during 2009) ..................................................................................................................19 Table 17. Overview of the main access channels to credit bureau data for clients .21 Table 18. Consumers' right of access and rectification (# of CBs) .................................22 Table 19. Prices for own credit report .......................................................................................22 Table 20. Means of access to data (# of countries) ...............................................................23 List of Figures Figure 1. Credit reporting as a for-profit business ................................................................. 3 Figure 2. Ownership structure of European credit bureaus (# of CBs) .......................... 4 Figure 3. Formal cross-border data exchange agreements in Europe ............................ 6 Figure 4. Storage of positive and negative data (# of CBs) ................................................10 Figure 5. Data stored on the consumer (# of CBs) ................................................................12 Figure 6. Loan data stored (# of CBs) ........................................................................................13 Figure 7. User groups providing credit information data (# of countries) .................15 Figure 8. Access to various data items by type of client .....................................................20 Preface Credit referencing occurs in many countries of the world with a primary purpose of collecting and providing information to help lenders make better decisions. However, there are many different models ranging from highly comprehensive databases of wide ranging information in the most advanced markets; to more basic registers of unpaid debts in more recently created registers. The objective in undertaking such a comprehensive survey in such a complex business is to support and inform the ACCIS Committee and members about our industry. In addition, it will also be used to advise regulators, the press and advisors about the credit bureau landscape across the EU. One of the primary purposes of our trade body, ACCIS, is to represent our members in discussions and negotiations with regulators. ACCIS has a clear objective to support the most comprehensive model of data sharing on behalf of our members. Ideally, that model should include both negative and positive data, across all forms of credit from the secured mortgage to the unsecured consumer credit products and also utilities such as mobile and fixed phones as well as utilities such as energy and water. Whilst such a depth and breadth of data is a goal for many of our members there is no doubt that some are nearer than others. We can learn from each other and help to show both regulators and consumers groups that data sharing can be a winning model for consumers, lenders and the economy as a whole. The variations in data and the rules that cover it are significant with no two countries