CRIF NM Credit Assurance is set to begin offering its credit reporting services to banks and other financial institutions in Jamaica as early as August, said chairman Robert Gordon.

The company, which is a joint venture between Italian-based CRIF and the Caribbean’s Neal and Massy, is one of two that have received licences from the Bank of Jamaica to act as credit bureaus in the country.

“We were given 12 months by BOJ to commence operations, to provide reports, but we think that it will be five to seven months at the most,” said Gordon.

CRIF NM was approved to act in Jamaica by the finance minister, Peter Phillips, in April. Creditinfo Jamaica, the other company licensed to offer credit reports here, said earlier this year that it was also aiming for a mid-2012 debut.

CRIF is already present in 15 different countries. Its partner in Jamaica, Neal and Massy, has 51 per cent stake in CRIF NM and is part of a conglomerate which counts information technology firm Illuminat as a subsidiary.

“We at CRIF wanted a local partner that was stable and had a good reputation in the market,” said Gordon at the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) of Jamaica’s 2012 Conference in Kingston yesterday. “Because one of the main things is that under the Credit Reporting Act of 2010, the supervisory body will be BOJ, so all of our due diligence, our fit and proper, will be extensive.”

CRIF NM will also focus on developing software platforms in order to introduce the use of credit scores in reporting, as is done in the US, said Gordon.

Under the new Credit Reporting Act, bureaus will be able to provide credit history information to lending institutions to help mitigate risk.

“We are going to be an across the board credit bureau,” said Gordon “Getting information from the bankruptcy court, from RGD, land titles, the tax administration department, all banks, credit unions, micro-finance institutions, everybody across the board.”

Consumers are eligible to receive one free report per year, and bureaus will only be able to provide credit history information to prospective lenders with the written consent of the relevant consumer.