Credit bureaus want RBI to make payments banks its members

Mumbai, Aug 21 (PTI) Ahead of the commercial launch ofpayments banks, credit information companies (CICs) have urgedRBI to ensure these newbies in the banking space become theirmembers and share data on the transactions. "Payments banks will not be into lending, but thetransactions which they undertake will help understandborrowers. Therefore, we have requested the RBI to make themour members," Experian Credit Information Company ManagingDirector Mohan Jayaraman told PTI. He said RBI has been receptive to the idea and has shownits willingness for the demand, but the changes cannot happenovernight as it will require amendments to the CreditInformation Companies (Regulation) Act. Jayaraman further said even though payments banks will notbe lending themselves, the data they share will help analyseborrower behaviour in a better way and will help the broaderbanking system. "These are banks finally and it is for thebenefit of the system," he added. Harshala Chandorkar, Chief Operating Officer at Cibil,the country’s largest CIC, also confirmed the companies havespoken to RBI about the need to include payments banks asmembers. Stating that the talks are in the initial stages, she saidsuch an eventuality would be a "win-win" for both CICs as wellas payments banks, which can use some of their solutions onthe customer acquisition front. Jayaraman elaborated that the issue was discussed with theregulator during a recent meeting. CICs keep data on borrowing and debt servicing, and havebeen credited for lessening the asset quality pain especiallyin the retail segment which is becoming the mainstay for freshcredit now. RBI gave in-principle nod to 11 aspirants to set uppayments banks last August. While some like Tech Mahindra andCholamandalam have since opted out, some like Airtel havereceived the final approvals. Others in the fray include corporate giants like RelianceIndustries, Aditya Birla Group, PayTM etc. Many of them arealready existing non-banking lenders or have tied up withbanks, which are members of CICs. Apart from that, the othercommon theme is that many of them are telecom companies. Jayaraman said the talks of getting the telecom players tobe members of CICs are still on and the decision has to betaken by the telecom department and the sectoral regulatorTrai. Similarly, with insurance as well, the ball lies inregulator Irdai’s court, he said. It can be noted that getting telecom and insurancetransactions, apart from utility payments, is among the primeissues raised by the industry in the past. PTI AA BEN NRB ABKSBTABKSRE