Credit risk management firm, Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), has rebranded to Transunion Rwanda. 

Aimable Nkuranga, the Transunion Rwanda country manager, announced the rebranding at a press briefing in Kigali yesterday.

Transunion Rwanda is a subsidiary of Transunion Africa Holdings, which has a presence in 11 African countries. The firm offers credit information of customers of financial institutions, mainly banks, retailers and other credit granting firms.

During the event, the firm also launched a new information sharing system that will be used to grade debtors according to their credit scores.

"The credit score system will provide a guide, indicating which clients are low or high-risk, a development that will enable lenders to extend loans to borrowers depending on their risk level,” said Nkuranga during the launch of the system.

Nkuranga said the firm will use borrowers’ credit reports from its consumer and business credit database, as well as data from various public sources to grade the creditworthiness of bank customers.

A borrower is seen as risky if they do not repay loans regularly as scheduled or if they have a history of defaulting.

Such clients are either denied loans or given credit at high interest rates, while some are blacklisted by banks as ‘too risky’.

The credit rating will, therefore, help banks make informed decisions concerning borrowers.Nkuranga urged bank clients to acquire their credit information periodically and use it to bargain for lower loan rates.

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