Loans

(asked on 17th October 2014) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing real-time credit checking for lenders.


Answered by
Andrea Leadsom Portrait
Andrea Leadsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 22nd October 2014

Credit data sharing is key to allowing lenders to make proper affordability assessments and promoting a competitive market. Having access to comprehensive data about their customers’ outstanding commitments may help lenders avoid making loans to customers who cannot afford to repay them.

Since 1 April 2014, credit reference agencies (CRAs) are regulated for their consumer credit activities by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The Government has made clear to payday lenders and CRAs that they must identify and remove any blockages involving real-time data sharing between payday lenders as a matter of urgency. The FCA has committed to prioritising improvements in this area, and has said it expects to see over 90% of payday firms participating in real-time data sharing and over 90% of loans being reported in real time by this November.

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