Experian-Interfax and Federal Migration Service sign passport screening agreement

The Experian-Interfax Credit Bureau has signed an agreement with the Federal Migration Service (FMS) to enable online screening of information relating to lost, stolen or invalid passports when processing loan applications.

"Credit bureaux play an important role in helping financial organisations reduce lending risk, so this agreement will enable banks co-operating with the Experian-Interfax credit bureau to further reduce fraud-related risks and improve the quality of their credit portfolios," said Mikhail Komissar, chairman of Experian-Interfax and chairman and CEO of the Interfax Information Services Group. "The banking community, and in particular, the Association of Regional Banks of Russia to which Experian-Interfax belongs, has been arguing for the need for more effective checks of passports for some time."

"Passports will be verified through the FMS database in compliance with legislation relating to personal Information and credit histories only with the written consent of individuals applying to banks or other lending institutions," said Konstantin Romodanovsky, director of the Federal Migration Service.

"The agreement with the Federal Migration Service is a practical measure for the implementation of the law on creditor histories, giving bureaux the right to make inquiries with government bodies about information required for their operations," Komissar added.

The Experian-Interfax consumer credit bureau currently works with 200 lending institutions, including major banks, providing services to support the consumer loans market. Its database contains two million records. In 2006, the bureau became the first in Russia to offer scoring services for credit decisioning.

*** Experian-Interfax was founded in October 2004. It is owned by the Interfax Information Services Group, a major provider of information and services for financial markets, and Experian, a global leader in providing analytical and information solutions to organisations and consumers to help manage risk and reward in financial decisions.

The credit bureau was established to provide accurate information to credit organisations on borrowers‘ track records in fulfilling their credit obligations and improving creditors‘ and borrowers‘ protection against credit risks.