BY CONFERENCE CALL – 15 JUNE 2021 – The Board of ACCIS, the voice of the credit reference industry in Europe, said today that COVID-19 has had varying impacts on consumers and businesses across European countries. From a business perspective, tough times will continue, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises in specific sectors of economic activity. It is advisable that government funding programs are lifted surgically. On the credit side, members of the Board underscored the need to ensure continued access to credit for viable businesses. Against that backdrop, ACCIS recalls the importance of preserving the integrity and accuracy of credit reporting systems, to support sound and responsible loan origination and monitoring.
“All stakeholders in the credit markets need to understand better the criteria and the tools applied to judge whether a business is viable (or not) and therefore whether it has (or has not) reasonable recovery prospects so that support can be deployed effectively”, said Mariusz Cholewa, President of ACCIS.
Members of the Board also noted that, because of COVID-19, there has been an accelerated shift towards digital banking. The use of financial digital apps and services is offering households and businesses new insights into the ways their financial data can help them manage their finances more productively. Tools like open banking – that are being provided by an increasing number of ACCIS members – are also seeing a rapid pick-up in use.
“We call for all policymakers to embrace the opportunities that the new data economy provides so that more and more people feel confident about the benefits of data sharing”, said Cholewa.
The Board also expressed satisfaction that, in line with the vision that ACCIS has for the credit reference industry, the members of the Association would be ready to endorse a review of the Statutes that would allow any organisation that collects and distributes credit information or any other relevant data for creditworthiness assessments (for example, open banking data) on consumers or businesses to join ACCIS. After extensive member consultation, the visual identity of the Association will also be updated and complemented by a new tagline, “data for credit”.
The landscape in which our industry operates today is changing. Rapid developments in technology, new customer expectations and fresh regulatory opportunities are generating a lot of entrepreneurship that we would like to invite to ACCIS. Last year, we turned 30. We look forward to our 31st birthday with the ambition of becoming a stronger, even more representative association”, said Cholewa.
For more information:
Enrique Velázquez, Director General
e.velazquez@accis.eu / + 32 476 93 34 37
The Association of Consumer Credit Information Suppliers (ACCIS) represents the largest group of credit reference agencies in the world. ACCIS brings together 41 members across 28 European countries and 11 associate and affiliate members from all other continents.
Twitter: @ACCISeu
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/accis-eu