Of the 18 to 74 year old population in Jamaica, nearly a quarter are in the credit reporting system. Which has led to an increased loan recovery rate for the 36 month period ending December 31, 2016.
This success rate should encourage more financial institutions to report their data in the 3 credit reporting bureaus on the island according to Dr. Jide Lewis of the Bank of Jamaica speaking at the recently held the Jamaica Association of Micro Financing Limited (JAMFIN) Institute of Micro Finance and Business (IMFB) Seminar held at the Jamaica Conference Centre.
Speaking to a gathering from the micro financing institution sector, Dr. Lewis noted that $2.511 billion was recovered during the period ended December 31, 2014. That jumped to $3.149 billion for the period ended December 31, 2015 and continued apace to the tune of $2.994 billion for the period ending December 31, 2016.
The Credit Reporting Act came into force in 2010. By 2012, there were two credit bureaus operating in Jamaica - CreditInfo and CRIF NM Credit Assure Limited. By 2013, 36 entities had been registered with the island’s first licensed credit bureau, Creditinfo Jamaica Limited.
Dr. Lewis attributes the fact that Jamaica’s credit reporting regime requires that persons clear off outstanding debt before getting new loans.
However, he did note that a significant 80% of the population is either not borrowing or not being reported by the financial institutions.
JAMFIN was established in 2011 by a group of major players in the Micro Financing sector with an annual turnover of $3 billion dollars.
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