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Source: BLOGS | Fausto Macedo | Reporter | Estadão

To talk about the importance of credit bureaus in boosting the economy, we need to understand the whole process. Modern economies have credit as their main tool for development. In all its lines and versions. Whether it's credit for individuals in its various forms, or for companies. 

And it's in the business environment that credit becomes so important, because business models, especially retail operations, work with very short or even negative financial cycles. In order for the operation to be carried out, a lot of security is needed in order to extend the terms sufficiently and activate the gears of the economy so that it runs at a speed that allows for growth. 

In this process, a credit bureaus that creates clarity and security in the credit market. The bureaus clear up the creditor's vision and play a very important role in reducing fraud, another point that hinders the granting of credit. Thus, bureaus are the instrument that oils the credit chain so that it gains agility, and the economy moves with firmness, strength and sustainability.

Economies with an expanding credit structure perform much better than those with no velocity in credit. credit market. Over the years, Brazil has experienced moments of expansion and stagnation in the credit market, as well as profound changes. Perhaps the first of these was the implementation of the single number, which is the CPF for individuals and CNPJ for legal entities, which made it possible to expand the bureaus and use their information in the credit system. Over the decades, this process has been consolidated through negative registration.

Another significant change was the introduction of the Positive Registry. It greatly improves the system, gives it greater precision and enables new technologies such as the Open Banking and Pix. Until then, the average model was used, i.e. average interest rate, average term, so that the good payers paid for the bad payers. The Positive Registry makes it possible to individualize risk. As a result, the process is optimized and borrowers have access to fairer conditions suited to their profile. 

The credit market will mature as people see the value in building up a credit history. With the Positive Registry, Brazilian citizens are beginning to realize the importance of a credit score. 

And the credit bureaus are the ones who give this seal of quality, especially those who manage the database (GBDs) of the Positive Registry. The bureaus played a fundamental role 50 or 60 years ago in the transformation from what was known as hire purchase to hire purchase. Now they are also key to this transformation that empowers borrowers. 

The Positive data has already made possible a very consistent database structure, which enables bureaus to provide a robust credit score. But this structure is limited to banked individuals and companies, with information from the financial system's databases. The inclusion of the databases of telcos and other utilities in the Cadastro Positivo will include those who were outside the credit market, the unbanked. This is perhaps the biggest step forward in the democratization of credit in Brazil. With the telecom and utilities databases, these consumers and companies will be able to receive the seal of credit quality. 

Brazil's credit expansion capacity is very large, and you don't even need to compare it with the US or Germany. Just compare it to Chile. The Central Bank is creating mechanisms to stimulate this expansion. When these mechanisms and the Positive Registry come together, they will make it possible to advance credit in a way that will allow the economy to truly expand in a sustainable way. 

The Central Bank is doing its job, as are the bureaus and the financial and credit structure. What's needed now is for people and companies to learn how to use all the innovations that have been created to bring about a revolution in the market. But we need to invest in training, so that people understand how important the credit bureau is. Unlike the negative register, the positive one is the great guarantor that can tell the system that a person or company is a good payer. This endorsement is extremely important. And the challenge for credit bureaus is to quickly consolidate their image as a positive tool for society.

ANBC Press Relations

Regina Pimenta: (11) 98136.6835 regina@pimenta.com

Ana Carolina Rodrigues: (11) 98674.0348 anacarolina@pimenta.com