The Hindu Business Line : ICICI Bank still not a member of Credit Information Bureau

WHILE foreign banks like Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC are now eager to share customer data with the newly launched Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd (CIBIL), ICICI Bank, the largest retail lender in the country, is yet to become a member of India's first credit information bureau.

But CIBIL has already enrolled 87 members from all segments of banks, financial institutions, non-banking finance companies, housing finance companies and credit card companies. It formally launched the retail credit bureau earlier this week with 13 members sharing all consumer data.

ICICI Bank is in talks with CIBIL on whether to share customer information or not. The bank is known to be bidding for a stake in the body since last year, which it still has not succeeded in getting.

"We are in discussions with CIBIL and we are not averse to even staying away from it," said senior bank officials. Asked when the discussions are likely to conclude, he said, "It could take weeks or even months for the talks to conclude."

ICICI Bank, with a retail asset book of over Rs 33,000 crore, is the unchallenged market leader in all retail businesses in the country. If the bank, with a market share of 30 per cent in the retail finance business, were to stay away from CIBIL, it would take away a large chunk of rich data, said an analyst.

Said Mr Satish Mehta, Managing Director, CIBIL, "ICICI Bank is not yet a member. We are in discussions with them." On stake sale to ICICI Bank, he said, "The promoters of CIBIL, HDFC and State Bank of India, will take a call. They hold the right to dilute their equity."

Internationally, credit bureaus are widely held among the large banks ensuring that all have a say in the management. In India only two large players, HDFC and State Bank of India, hold 40 per cent each in CIBIL.

Apart from holding stake, another irritation for ICICI Bank seems to be sharing of information on its customer base of 10 million. While the bank is comfortable with revealing its defaulter list, it is concerned about its positive customer information for fear of poaching by peers.

Citibank also had reservations on the data privacy front. But now Ms Uma Relan, Consumer Credit Director, Citibank, feels differently. "We took some time to decide whether to join the bureau or not. We evaluated the data privacy rules of CIBIL and are satisfied with it," she said. Citibank, which started retail lending in India back in the early 1990s, has a retail asset book of over Rs 10,000 crore and even an internal list of defaulters.

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