WINDHOEK – The Bank of Namibia yesterday announced that the Credit Bureau Regulations have officially been gazetted, meaning that all existing credit bureaus in Namibia will now be registered and their consumer credit information collection and management activities will be regulated by the central bank. The purpose of the regulations is to provide for the registration, supervision and licensing of credit bureaus in Namibia.
Credit bureaus can be defined as agencies that research and collect individual credit information to sell it for a fee to creditors who then use this information to make a decision on granting loans. Typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies and other financing companies.
“While provision of consumer financial education is key, so is the protection of consumers of financial services and products. In this regard, I am pleased to announce that the credit bureau regulations have now been gazetted”, said Minister of Finance, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila yesterday.
The new regulations also means that legal obligations are now placed on credit bureaus by providing consumers the right to access their data through the provision of a free copy of a natural person’s credit report once every twelve months in a format to be agreed upon between the consumer and the credit bureau. Legal obligation is also now placed on the credit bureaus to explicitly inform a consumer of his or her right to challenge the information maintained in the credit bureau database. Credit Bureaus are required to protect the confidentiality of consumer information through restrictions on the use of credit performance information and legal obligation is also placed on every credit provider to submit both negative and positive credit performance information to all registered credit bureaus that meet the legal requirements. “Credit bureaus only provided negative information on individuals and never provided positive information. This creates a distorted perception about individuals”, added Kuugongelwa-Amadhila during a progress report on Namibia’s Financial Sector Strategy (NFSS), which she launched in August 2012.
“The public is informed that any person engaging, among others, in the business of receiving reports or investigating credit applications, credit agreements, payment history or credit performance information, as outlined in regulation 3(1) of the Regulations, must apply to the Bank of Namibia for registration as a credit bureau”, read a statement from the Bank of Namibia.