Dun & Bradstreet out in front on CCR's 4th birthday

Dun & Bradstreet out in front on Comprehensive Credit Reporting’s 4th birthday in New Zealand

Four years ago today, Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) was permitted in New Zealand which has since proved a watershed moment for credit providers and consumers alike.

Dun & Bradstreet was the first credit bureau to offer CCR to the New Zealand market – enabling credit providers to both consume and contribute to a burgeoning body of more insightful consumer credit data.

Since being first to market, the company has developed the leading repository of CCR data, with 4.3 million open retail accounts as of March 2016, representing the most comprehensive coverage available in the New Zealand marketplace.

Downstream, the introduction of CCR is rewarding consumers for responsible credit behaviour through greater and easier access to credit, be it for post-paid utilities, credit card facilities, mortgages and other forms of lending. Consumers are also benefitting from increased competition amongst credit providers, through accessing better rates and more innovative credit products (such as those adopting ‘rate-for-risk’) that the CCR system uniquely facilitates.

In marking the fourth year milestone of CCR in New Zealand, Dun & Bradstreet’s newly appointed CEO, Simon Bligh, is delighted by the momentum generated to date, and is encouraged by his company’s market leading position on CCR in the domestic market.

“Our customers are deriving a competitive advantage through the superior coverage, depth and accuracy of our CCR data. In addition to the 4.3 million open accounts, we have ten contributing credit providers, including two top-tier banks, two leading telco’s, 3 major utilities, and emerging peer-to-peer lenders”, said Bligh.

“While over 60% of consumer retail credit accounts in our bureau report under CCR, about 37% of those consumers hold accounts with multiple lenders, adding unique richness to our data in assessing credit worthiness. When coupled with our market leading match rates, these are numbers that set us well apart from our competition.”

The progress has Bligh, famously passionate about data, extremely excited about the work Dun & Bradstreet is actively doing to partner credit providers in transforming their customer on-boarding, credit application and risk management processes through the provision of CCR data and insight.

“As the only locally owned bureau with end-to-end capability across the full credit lifecycle, we are uniquely positioned to positively shape the credit landscape in our part of the world.”

He also believes there are significant economic benefits to the entrenchment of the CCR system in New Zealand, not only through growth in the up-take of credit amongst consumers (thereby driving spending and economic activity), but also from the increasing sophistication of credit application processes, and improved knowledge amongst consumers as to how their behaviour drives their ability to access credit.

“Ultimately, we are about helping more & different types of credit providers advance credit not only to more consumers, but to the right consumers at the right level and price. And those consumers are increasingly aware that they have a key role to play in the process,” added Bligh.

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