Mail & Guardian reporter
A new organisation has been formed in response to criticism and concerns regarding credit bureaus, which blacklist creditors who have not settled their accounts with retailers.
The Credit Bureau Forum (CBF), as the organisation is known, seeks to address problems that consumers encounter with credit bureaus and the concerns of credit grantors. It aims to bring about some kind of regulation to the operations of the credit bureaus. Its objectives are:
l To address concerns in and about the credit information industry;
l To find ways of improving the efficacy and efficiency of the industry;
l To ensure that the industry serves the legitimate interests of all stakeholders, including consumers, workers, the business community, credit rceivers and credit grantors;
l To engage participants in a constructive, open and dignified exchange of ideas and information;
l To seek to negotiate maximal consensus on issues raised by participants; and
l To assist the government in the formulation of policy and to influence the government positively.
The forum is investigating laws relating to credit information in other countries and cooperating with the consumer affairs committee of the Department of Trade and Industry on the matter.
CBF chairperson advocate Ashina Singh says the forum has no idea of the number of people listed by the credit bureaus. She invites members of the public and affected parties to make submissions to the forum.
Singh says the forum is looking at systems in other countries to benchmark the policy and regulation of credit bureaus. It is currently looking at the issue of whether the industry needs to be self-regulated or regulated by law to ensure that people have access to legitimate bodies to submit enquiries.
The CBF has drawn participation from a number of businesses and NGOs. These include the Banking Council South Africa, the Consumer Credit Association, the Consumer Institute, the Consumer Union, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Credit Bureau Association, the Furniture Traders’ Association, the National Consumer Union, the National Industrial Chamber and the South African Communist Party.
The establishment of the forum should come as a relief to thousands of people who, after being blacklisted, battle to have their names cleared from the credit bureaus.