Industry | finance, credit |
---|---|
Founded | 1994 |
Headquarters | Technopark Stellenbosch, South Africa |
Key people | Remo Lenisa, CEO |
Number of employees | 400 |
Compuscan is a South African credit bureau that provides consumer and commercial credit information within South Africa and other African nations.
Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Compuscan is a subsidiary of South African-based Compuscan Information Technologies. [1] The company, which was originally focused on providing credit history reporting for microcredit transactions, is among South Africa's leading credit bureaus and is a member of the nation's Credit Bureau Association. [2] [3] [4] The company also provides microcredit reporting services in the neighboring republics of Botswana [5] and Namibia. [6]
In 2006, Compuscan was selected by the Bank of Uganda to build the first-ever Ugandan Credit Reference Bureau. [7] This system, which was formally introduced in 2008, required Ugandan financial institutions to issue smart cards to their borrowers as part of a borrower identification program.
In South Africa, Compuscan is a registered credit bureau in terms of the National Credit Act (NCA). As per the NCA, all credit bureaus in South Africa are to supply South African citizens with one free credit report per year. [8] The company also markets credit bureau services to businesses in the credit and financial industries; as well as training services, marketing services, analytics consultancy and loyalty and rewards offerings to a various other industries.
Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment, or a verifiable credit history. It is designed to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty. Many recipients are illiterate, and therefore unable to complete paperwork required to get conventional loans. As of 2009 an estimated 74 million people held microloans that totaled US$38 billion. Grameen Bank reports that repayment success rates are between 95 and 98 percent.
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution.
ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai with registered office in Vadodara. It offers a wide range of banking and financial services for corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and specialized subsidiaries in the areas of investment banking, life, non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management.
Accion is an international nonprofit. Founded as a community development initiative serving the poor in Venezuela, Accion is known as a pioneer in the fields of microfinance and fintech impact investing.
A home equity line of credit, or HELOC, is a revolving type of secured loan in which the lender agrees to lend a maximum amount within an agreed period, where the collateral is the borrower's property. Because a home often is a consumer's most valuable asset, many homeowners use their HELOC for major purchases or projects, such as home improvements, education, property investment or medical bills, and choose not to use them for day-to-day expenses.
Credit counseling is commonly a process that is used to help individual debtors with debt settlement through education, budgeting and the use of a variety of tools with the goal to reduce and ultimately eliminate debt. Credit counseling is most often done by Credit counseling agencies that are empowered by contract to act on behalf of the debtor to negotiate with creditors to resolve debt that is beyond a debtor's ability to pay. Some of the agencies are non-profits that charge at no or non-fee rates, while others can be for-profit and include high fees. Regulations on credit counseling and Credit counseling agencies varies by country and sometimes within regions of the countries themselves. In the United States, individuals filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy are required to receive counseling.
Opportunity International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization chartered in the United States. Through a network of 47 program and support partners, Opportunity International provides small business loans, savings, insurance and training to more than 14 million people in the developing world. It has clients in more than 20 countries and works with fundraising partners in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Opportunity International has 501(c)(3) status as a tax-exempt charitable organization in the United States under the US Internal Revenue Code.
A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit bureaus.
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
The Association for Social Advancement is a non-governmental organisation based in Bangladesh which provides microcredit financing.
Discover Financial Services is an American financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank, an online bank that offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, home equity loans, student loans and credit cards. It also owns and operates the Discover and Pulse networks, and owns Diners Club International. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders. Discover is currently headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, Illinois.
A credit card is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing its users to purchase goods or services or withdraw cash on credit. Using the card thus accrues debt that has to be repaid later. Credit cards are one of the most widely used forms of payment across the world.
Before Uganda's independence in 1962, the main banks in Uganda were Barclays ; Grindlays, Standard Bank and the Bank of Baroda from India. The currency was issued by the East African Currency Board, a London-based body. In 1966, the Bank of Uganda (BoU), which controlled the issue of currency and managed foreign exchange reserves, became the central bank and national banking regulator. The government-owned Uganda Commercial Bank and the Uganda Development Bank were launched in the 1960s. The Uganda Development Bank is a state-owned development finance institution, which channeled loans from international sources into Ugandan enterprises and administered most of the development loans made to Uganda.
Financial inclusion is the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services. It refers to a process by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and services which include banking, loan, equity, and insurance products. It is a path to enhance inclusiveness in economic growth by enabling the unbanked population to access the means for savings, investment, and insurance towards improving household income and reducing income inequality
Sanlam is a South African financial services group headquartered in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa. Sanlam is the largest insurance company in Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the A2X. Established in 1918 as a life insurance company, Sanlam Group has developed into a diversified financial services business. Its five business clusters comprise Sanlam Personal Finance, Sanlam Emerging Markets, Sanlam Investments, Sanlam Corporate and Santam.
Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Limited (CiplaQCIL) is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Uganda. According to a 2007 published report, it was the only company in Africa that manufactured triple-combination antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. CiplaQCIL also manufactures the antimalarial drug Lumartem, containing artemisinin and lumefantrine, and the Hepatitis B generic medicines Texavir and Zentair.
Microcredit for water supply and sanitation is the application of microcredit to provide loans to small enterprises and households in order to increase access to an improved water source and sanitation in developing countries. While most investments in water supply and sanitation infrastructure are financed by the public sector, investment levels have been insufficient to achieve universal access. Commercial credit to public utilities was limited by low tariffs and insufficient cost-recovery. Microcredits are a complementary or alternative approach to allow the poor to gain access to water supply and sanitation.
A payday loan is a small, short-term unsecured loan, "regardless of whether repayment of loans is linked to a borrower's payday." The loans are also sometimes referred to as "cash advances," though that term can also refer to cash provided against a prearranged line of credit such as a credit card. Payday advance loans rely on the consumer having previous payroll and employment records. Legislation regarding payday loans varies widely between different countries and, within the United States, between different states.
Credit bureaus in the Philippines are credit bureaus that are licensed and accredited by the Philippine governments department of Credit Information Corporation (CIC) to operate within the Philippines.
The Credit Information Corporation (CIC) is a government-owned and controlled corporation providing credit information system in the Philippines. It was created in 2008 by the Credit Information System Act (CISA) to construct a centralized, comprehensive credit information system for the collection and dissemination of accurate and fair information relevant to, or arising from, credit and credit-related activities of all entities participating in the financial system. This credit information is to be collected from various sources such as banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, financing companies, credit cooperatives, as well as utility companies and other businesses that extend loans. The CIC compiles this credit information to help creditors evaluate the ability of borrowers to pay.