The credit bureau pilot project underway in Morocco is part of a broader open source project, MIFOS, to create a full framework for the industry. The Grameen Technology Center (GTC), a US non-profit in Seattle, has partnered with PlaNet Finance Morocco, a French NGO, to develop and test the program.The project consists of a central database which is sent data from each of the participating microlenders. The client software at the microlender extracts data from multiple data sources (Oracle, Access, etc) and uses a parametrizable SQL statement to pull from the microlenders’ system. In lay terms, the MFI has a tool at their location that allows them to send a standardized set of information to a centralized location. Then, each participant is allowed to make queries of the centralized server to see what customer records exist at other microlenders. (Thanks to James Daily at the GTC for information).Despite the growing preponderance of microfinance institutions worldwide, ways to track credit histories have been inadequate. Even in Latin America, where anywhere from 20-50% of the economically active population is employed in the microenterprise sector, credit bureaus have only recently begun to incorporate information on microentrepreneurs (p. 8). As competition in microfinance lending intensifies, borrower information becomes all the more important (p. 2).
Additional Resources1) Main article discussed in entry: "Model Credit Bureau ‘Open-Source’ Solution Being Tested in Morocco." 2) Grameen Technology Center: "Credit Bureau Pilot Project" 3) Microfinance Matters: "Credit Bureaus in Latin America: Expanding Financial and Other Services to the Base of the Pyramid." 4) Microfinance Open Source (MIFOS) Project5) Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): “Credit Bureaus: Leverage Information for the Benefit of Microenterprises.”
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