SPARK now providing United Credit Bureau credit histories

United Credit Bureau (UCB) and Interfax Group have launched an online service to provide credit histories on individuals and businesses to users of the SPARK system.

Thanks to the latest changes to legislation, legal entities that are not lending institutions now have the right to request credit reports if they are authorized to do so by the subject of the credit report. The security directors, HR professionals and credit managers of companies that are SPARK subscribers will be able to use the new service to obtain credit reports through a familiar interface along with other information they need for their work.

The new service is fully compliant with Russian legislation. SPARK subscribers will be able to receive information from UCB only after signing a corresponding agreement, with the credit report subject‘s permission in hand, and complying with strict requirements for protection of personal data.

"Credit history data will be useful to SPARK subscribers for comprehensive assessment of the risk profile and dependability of potential partners in the small business sector and individual entrepreneurs, as well as better quality vetting of materially responsible employees at the hiring stage. Access to credit histories offers an additional opportunity to increase financial security and the reliability of business relationships," UCB Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zelensky said.

"Credit histories are the most up-to-date signs of changes in the financial standing of companies. In the corporate sector, information about the loan payments of individuals can also be important for assessment of small businesses, where the credit histories of the company and its owner are essentially one and the same," Interfax Vice President Roman Laba said.

A credit report is a document that reflects credit history, providing detailed information about the borrower‘s credit obligations, including current and repaid loans, credit limits and duration, outstanding balances and timeliness of payments. The credit report also includes the borrower‘s credit score based on their credit history.

Interfax, Sberbank and Experian have created the United Credit Bureau, the Russian market leader for credit information. The Bureau database contains more than 171 m credit histories on 58 m borrowers from all over the country. The Bureau focuses not only on the quantity of data, but also on the quality of their processing. United Credit Bureau also provides its clients with high-performance risk assessment, credit portfolio management and fraud prevention services. Among the Bureau clients, there are over 600 banks, microlenders, insurance companies and mobile network operators. http://www.bki-okb.ru/about?lang=en

Interfax is the recognized leader on the Russian information market in the B2B segment. Interfax was founded in 1989, when a group of journalists formed an information agency that became the first nongovernmental outlet for the latest political and economic news about the Soviet Union. Interfax is the most frequently cited source for information on Russia and the CIS in the foreign press and the most popular newswire service about the Russian stock market.

Interfax develops professional information solutions that help companies operate in the financial and commodity markets and reach investment decisions, manage risk, organize external communications and fulfill regulatory requirements. Interfax‘s best-known services include SPARK (risk management, marketing, assessment of businesses), EFiR (full information for financial market participants), E-DISCLOSURE.RU (stock market disclosure system), SCAN (media analysis and monitoring) and others).