TransUnion's Russian Operation First to Be Licensed by Government

In February, Russia’s National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBCH) became the first nationwide credit bureau with an international operator to be licensed for operation by Russia’s Federal Service for Financial Markets, the government organization that is tasked with registering and regulating credit history bureaus. The NBCH is a partnership with TransUnion, the Italian CRIF and many of Russia’s premier financial institutions and will serve lenders and financial institutions across Russia’s 89 regions.

With its licensing agreement, NBCH began selling credit products and services on March 1. One of the largest credit history bureaus being established in Russia, NBCH is comprised of more than 30 shareholders and has more than 400 financial-related clients to date. It officially began operations in the fall of last year.

“The progress made by all involved parties within the last couple of months is truly amazing,” said Ralph Sorice, president of TransUnion International. “This is a prelude to the benefits all stakeholders will see as we lay the groundwork for a world-class credit infrastructure that creates economic advantages for both businesses and consumers.”

Along with being the first credit history bureau to receive accreditation, NBCH was the first to have its credit management systems tested and accepted. TransUnion CRIF Decision Solutions LLC is supplying the organization with specialized credit bureau technologies and its operational and managerial expertise. TransUnion CRIF Decision Solutions LLC is a joint venture company by TransUnion and CRIF, Italy’s leading market player in the credit reporting and decision support systems segment. Together, TransUnion and CRIF are the largest owners or operators of credit bureaus worldwide.

The NBCH system is comprised of best-in-breed technology, including: TransUnion’s International Credit Reporting Systems (iCRS), an extremely scalable and flexible platform designed to allow developers to modify and adjust components of the system to meet needs of the bureau and the country in which it operates; CRIF’s StrategyOne, a decision-making engine that supports the design, implementation and monitoring of scoring and rating models along with decision rules that form the evaluation process; and CreditFlow, a flexible and tailored workflow management system which allows to streamline the business application process.

“The level of expertise and technology that went into this system is unprecedented,” said CRIF’s Fabrizio Fraboni, Director, International Division: “We are excited to be a part of this endeavor and look forward to building on our initial successes to date.”