by Linda Straker
- EveryData ECCU Ltd. is regional credit bureau operator
- Has signed agreements with 27 licensed financial institutions under Banking Act
- Dennis Cornwall is Grenada’s representative on ECCB Monetary Council
Several licensed financial institutions, as well as credit unions, have signed agreements with EveryData ECCU Ltd. — the regional credit bureau operator, for them to be provided with finance and other data about customers.
“EveryData ECCU Ltd. (the credit bureau operator) has signed agreements with 27 of the 32 (84%) licensed financial institutions (LFIs) under the Banking Act in the ECCU,” said the communique issued by the Monetary Council following the 110th meeting which was held in St Kitts and Nevis last Friday.
Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall is Grenada’s representative on the Monetary Council, which is the body with the highest decision-making authority in the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
The communique said 11 LFIs have already gone live, and others are expected to follow in the upcoming months. “Nineteen of forty-seven (40%) of credit unions signed agreements. Public education is ongoing throughout the region,” said the communique under the subtopic financial stability.
As of 2 December 2024, the Grenada Cooperative Bank, as a credit information provider, began forwarding its customers’ credit information to the credit bureau as guided by the clause of the Credit Reporting Act.
This legislation provides “for a fair and an accurate credit reporting system within the financial system in order to assure objective credit decisions; to enable credit information sharing and reporting; to provide for the regulation of the conduct of credit reporting and credit reporting services; to provide a safeguard for data protection for customers of credit providers; to provide for a single space in the regulation of credit reporting and for related matters.”
Section 27 of the legislation explained that “a credit information provider shall, upon providing credit to a data subject or entering into a credit or loan agreement with a data subject, furnish to a credit bureau information with respect to the data subject from the date of the provision of the credit to the data subject; and within the time specified in the subscriber agreement with the credit bureau.”
The law defines a “data subject” as “anyone or person whose information has, or may have, been furnished to the credit bureau by reason of a contractual relationship with a credit provider, a loan application signed by the person, or any other legitimate purpose as well as anyone who is a guarantor of a person.”
According to the legislation, “a credit information provider is any credit provider that is defined as
(a) a bank or financial institution licensed under the Banking Act, 2015
(b) a money services business licensed under the Money Services Business Act, Chapter 198A
(c) a credit union or similar co-operative institution registered under the Co-operative Societies Act, Chapter 66A
(d) an insurance company licensed under the Insurance Act, Chapter 150; or
(e) a micro-finance institution licensed under any enactment regulating micro-finance institutions”
The communique said that banks in the region are generally well-capitalised, and deposits continue to grow, including from businesses. “The ECCU banking system remains stable with a high degree of liquidity (estimated at EC$1.5 billion at the end of December 2024.”
Regarding credit conditions, the communique said that the conditions have eased and competition is intense, thereby creating a favourable environment for borrowing, particularly for mortgages.
