Watch Out India!

Experian Credit Information Co has received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a credit bureau in the country, it announced on Thursday. The bureau will have to begin operations within six months.


“Now that we have the licence, we will begin the process of collecting credit data from lenders,” said Phil Nolan, the newly-appointed managing director of Experian Credit Bureau.
In November 2009, Experian formed a credit information company in India by roping in seven partners, including Axis Bank, Federal Bank, Indian Bank, Magma Fincorp, Punjab National Bank, Sundaram Finance and Union Bank of India.
At present, Credit Information Bureau (Cibil) is the only functional credit bureau in the country.
“Cibil has a 5-year headstart and that is a big advantage. But, the advantage for us is that data sharing principles have already been established in the country. This will make our job simpler,” said Nolan.
In April last year, RBI had granted an in-principal approval to four credit bureaus, including Cibil, Experian, Equifax Information Services and Higmark Credit Information Services.
In January this year, Equifax announced about setting up a credit bureau in joint venture with six Indian partners, including Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Prime, Religare Finvest, Sundaram Finance and Union Bank of India.

Watch out India, here comes Equifax!

Maybe I should get licensed to practice law in India.  Equifax, the credit bureau who I have sued many many times in the past, has announced the formation of a new credit bureau in India, named Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt Ltd.  The new credit bureau is a joint venture between Equifax and six leading financial institutions in India, including Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Prime Ltd, Religare Finvest Ltd, Sundaram Finance Ltd and Union Bank of India.


India granted Equifax a certificate of registration to establish the new credit bureau in April of last year, four years after the application was originally submitted.

I know nothing about Indian law, but it would behoove the Indian government to look into passing strict consumer protection laws.  And, given Equifax's lackluster history of inaccuracy in its credit reports, they need to pass some laws quick!