High Enquiries on Credit Bureau Databases by Banks in 2024

Key Findings

Banks conducted the highest number of enquiries on credit bureau databases with a total of 13,522,171 searches.
This represented 84.93% of total enquiries compared to 77.83% in 2023.
Microfinance and Microcredit institutions followed with 8.82% of total enquiries in 2024, a decrease from 11.0% recorded in 2023.

Changes in Enquiries Over Time

Searches among savings and loan companies and others also decreased compared to the previous year.
The decrease in enquiries can be attributed to the implementation of the Credit Reporting Act, 2007 (Act 726), which mandates financial institutions to conduct credit searches on prospective borrowers.

Reasons for Conducting Credit Searches

The Bank of Ghana reported that, consistent with previous years, enquiries related to credit applications dominated reasons for authorised users conducting searches on credit bureau databases, followed by credit bureau searches and then Known Your Customer (KYC).

Data Submission

An average of 61,139,397 records were submitted to credit bureaus every month in 2024, compared to an average of 21,063,325 loan records in 2023.
The data related to new loans disbursed within the respective months, updates on the status of previously submitted loans, and digital loans.

Relevance of Credit Bureau Services

Criteria	Importance
Non-creditworthy borrowers	Highly relevant to lenders to identify and avoid lending to such borrowers.
Creditworthiness assessment	Very important for lenders to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers before approving loans.

Definition of Key Terms

Enquiry

A request made by an authorised user to retrieve information from a credit bureau database.

Credit Bureau

A database that stores information about individuals and businesses, used by financial institutions to assess creditworthiness.

KYC

A process used by financial institutions to verify the identity of customers and assess their creditworthiness.

Conclusion

Banks conducted the highest number of enquiries on credit bureau databases in 2024, with a total of 13,522,171 searches, representing 84.93% of total enquiries. The use of credit bureau services remains relevant to lenders to identify non-creditworthy borrowers and assess their creditworthiness. The data submission process has also increased, with an average of 61,139,397 records submitted to credit bureaus every month. Overall, the credit reporting system plays a crucial role in facilitating the lending process and ensuring the integrity of financial institutions.