Experian launches its Commercial Score to help businesses assess credit risk

Experian®, the global leader in credit bureau services, today unveiled its new Commercial Credit Information Report. This report contains a commercial score, which helps in providing a 360-degree credit assessment by combining the power of both individual and business borrowings together, which is unique in the industry. Today, the Experian Credit bureau has more than 525 Mn. trade lines, with the commercial bureau having 25 Mn. trade lines.

With a strong focus on innovation and leveraging its global expertise, Experian has strengthened its commercial bureau offerings in India through the launch of the score, account review and industry insights for businesses to help them assess credit risk more effectively. The Indian market has a large proportion of proprietorship firms; Experian commercial score with a range of 300-900, has been designed such that it provides a comprehensive view of commercial obligations of proprietors. For partnership and limited liability companies along with the score on all related individuals it will include a risk rating from 1 to 10 on the entity, thereby providing a unique way to analyse business risks for SMEs vis-à-vis medium to large companies.

Commenting on this development, Mohan Jayaraman, Managing Director, Experian Credit Bureau, India said, “Recent analysis by Experian bureau in India highlights that 26% of the proprietorship firm population and 15% of private firm population are at a high risk. In India, in the formal lending space we have approximate 45% of firms set up as proprietary firms and with this associated high risk, we believe that a commercial score and account review will help the banks take informed credit decisions. Also, I would like to add that the launch of the commercial score further strengthens our offerings to our clients as well as bears testimony to our commitment to the government’s agenda of growing Indian businesses through initiatives such as Make in India and Digital India.”

Additionally, Rajesh Kumar, Group Head, Co-Head for Retail Risk, HDFC bank has said that, “The launch of commercial score and account review will go a long way in helping the business assess credit risk more efficiently. We believe that this offering will help the industry to plan their business strategy better and take more informed credit decisions, and enable opportunities for their customers.”

In addition to the above Experian also offers an enhanced version of the report, which comprises of alternate data such as financials, legal filings, directorship tree, charges etc. for limited liability companies.