Press Release - 6th March 2020
Vinod Patel Takes The Lead In Credit Reporting
The Credit Information Reporting Agency Pte Limted (CIRA) is happy to announce thatVinod Patel & Company Pte Limited (VPCL) through its Consumer Finance operations, isthe first company in Fiji to load its credit information with CIRA. VPCL was also the firstcompany to register with the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) under the Fair Reporting of CreditAct 2016 as a Credit Information Provider and Credit Information Recipient.
The credit information uploading exercise has been possible following a comprehensivebriefing with relevant executives and a training program conducted for staff, by CIRA. Uploading of the first credit information records was completed over two days.
The Chairperson of CIRA, Mr Winston Penjueli in making the annoucement stated, “Wewelcome Vinod Patel. We are delighted to have them on board and we’re looking forward toworking closely with their staff as they familiarise themselves with the WIN system in a liveenvironment. We are confident that they will find CIRA’s services very useful.”
The CEO of VPCL, Mr Rahul Amin said that the idea of credit information sharing through CIRA was welcomed by the Directors and Executives of the company, as it provides the rightbalance between the company’s Enterprise Risk Management priorities, business growthand customer satisfaction. Mr Amin added that, “these priorities clash at times but having aplatform such as CIRA allows us to appropriately manage such cases. We undertand thereservations that companies may have and we would gladly share our experience with theaim of increasing CIRA membership.”
Mr Amin acknowledged the great effort, enthusiasm and commitment by the Company’sConsumer Finance Team, ably led by their General Manager, Mr Vikram Jain. “Vikram hasbeen a pivotal part of this process; asking the right questions particularly from a riskmanagement perspective.”
Mr Amin added that VPCL is confident that the sharing/accessing of credit information willenhance the ease of doing business, financial inclusion and reduce the risk premiumcharged given the current information asymmetry in the market.
“For VPCL, we recognise that this is a win-win initative for the private sector and consumers,and this benefit is optimised with more membership.”
VPCL is also exploring the avenue of live sharing which will further enhance theirmembership with CIRA and be of great benefit to their customers as information on CIRA willbe updated simultaneously when they make a payment at any of Vinod Patel’s 11 Home & Living branches.
The spokesperson for CIRA, Chief Operating Officer Mr Terence Elaisa shared that the CIRA team is working with lenders who have completed the registration process with the RBF. Currently, there are seven organisations who have completed registration and theylooked forward to more organisations joining.
CIRA’s services are not limited to banks and consumer finance companies. Anyorganisation which provides services and uses billing credit payment terms may alsoconsider using CIRA’s services.
Organisations interested in using CIRA’s services need to first contact the RBF andcomplete the required registration process confirming if they will be credit informationproviders and/or credit report recipients. This will determine their membership type with CIRA.
For individuals who may wish to check their own credit reports, they may do so by contacting CIRA directly. Individuals will need to pass an identification check before a search may beconducted.
CIRA is confident its services will positively impact Fiji’s ease of doing business reforms andin the long term, effectively support economic and financial stability.
For further information, contact the Chief Operating Officer, Mr Terence Elaisa on ph: 3300377 Shortcode: 9888, email: terence@cira.com.fj
About CIRA
The Credit Information Reporting Agency (CIRA) [pronounced key’ra] was established in2018 after having obtained a licence to operate a credit information reporting agency from the Reserve Bank of Fiji. CIRA is 100% locally owned with a local board.
CIRA’s key function is the collection of credit information or data pertaining to a person or acompany, association or body of persons, corporate or unincorporated, from creditinformation providers, its compilation and provision of this same information via creditreports. CIRA is operating in a regulated environment governed by the Fair Reporting of Credit Act 2016 and its accompanying Fair Reporting of Credit Regulations 2016, which means positive outcomes for all, in terms of responsibility and accountability of the accuracyand timeliness of information.
After completing extensive research on the key stakeholders of the credit environment andtheir needs and objectives, CIRA designed and developed a dynamic data platform application called “WIN”.
CIRA currently has six staff and is located at 8 Des Vouex Road in Suva.
For more information contact:
The Chief Operations Officer
Mr Terence Elaisa
Credit Information Reporting Agency PTE Limited
P O Box 18300
Suva, Fiji Islands
Mobile: 865 1964
Office: 330 0377
Office: 9888 (Vodafone & Inkk only)