Asiakastieto has provided information on corporate debt liabilities to various actors in the financial sector since 2021. The reception for the new data-sharing based service has been enthusiastic, and the customers see the value of this positive data. Eventually, it will reduce the credit losses.
The positive company credit information has attracted the interest of companies in the financial sector. The BLIS service has already collected data on more than 17,000 Finnish companies in a short period of time, and more than 10,800 inquiries of companies' open loans have been made.
BLIS stands for Business Loan Information System.
The service launched and maintained by Asiakastieto operates in such a way that the participating financiers, with the consent of the loan applicant, make information about their corporate customers who have received credit available to other parties. Up-to-date information on corporate debt liabilities helps credit grantors avoid credit losses. At the same time, the risk of corporate payment defaults and over-indebtedness is reduced.
“There has been a need for faster payment behaviour data. Companies’ positive credit information is automatically updated every day. The system shows the amount of credit applied for, how much credit has been granted, the date of drawdown, the instalment, the loan period, and the payment terms. The service shows the payment behaviour history for the previous 12 months and information on the next two payment instalments”, says Asiakastieto's Product Owner Markus Hallberg.
Financiers can use the information in the BLIS service, for example, as additional material for credit rating.
The number of financiers is doubling
The positive company credit information maintained by Asiakastieto is a continuation of a similar service for consumers, which has been in use since 2013. The service includes about 40 banks and finance companies operating in Finland. Positive credit information can already be found of 1.5 million Finnish consumers.
The idea behind positive company credit information is the same: the more actors involved, the more information about corporate customers can also be found in the service.
“There are currently five financial companies involved that share information with each other. I believe the number will double over the next six months. The dream, of course, would be for all those who provide funding to companies to join in”, Hallberg says.
According to him, the average size of a loan granted to companies is about 17,000 euros with a loan period of 15 months. From the size and the short duration of the loans, it can be concluded that the majority of the loans are granted to small or medium size companies seeking working capital.
"However, this is not a last-minute emergency financing for a company, as every fourth company that applies for a new loan has a rating of AA or better in Asiakastieto's credit rating," says Hallberg.
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