KCB signs deal to set up data system in Indonesia

The Korea Credit Bureau (KCB), one of the country’s top two credit rating companies, signed a 2.6 billion won ($2.2 million) contract on Tuesday with the Indonesian government to establish a national financial information system.

This is the first time a Korean financial company has successfully exported a national financial information network to a foreign government.

According to the KCB, it will develop a system where the credit information of all consumers will be managed by the Indonesian government by 2017. Thanks to recent economic growth and increased spending by the middle and upper class, the retail finance business in the Southeast Asian country has been expanding, raising the need for a national credit information network.

The system that the KCB will be setting up will be similar to the one that is currently operated by the Federation of Korean Banks. While the government manages the credit information infrastructure, private credit rating companies will evaluate a person’s credit. Once the system goes into operation, the Indonesian financial companies will be able to hand out loans and decide on interest rates based on the person’s credit rating.

The KCB bid on the system, commissioned by the Indonesia Financial Services Authority, or Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, and was selected as primary negotiator in May. The KCB said it is also working on opening up the first private credit evaluation company in Indonesia by collaborating with a local financial company.

“The first export to Indonesia will help the expansion of other financial exports in emerging markets,” KCB CEO Choi Bum-su said.

BY LEE TAE-KYUNG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]