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The recently launched Mobile Credit Score by gnuGridCRB and Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda Limited (AMCUL) promises to further unlock access to credit for the vast majority of Ugandans in the informal sector, including agriculture which employs the largest proportion of Ugandans, Wilbrod Owor, the Executive Director of Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) has said.
Speaking at the launch of the groundbreaking solution, Mr. Owor said that using alternative data to aid decision-making in lending would scale up access to credit for those who need it most.
“I’m very excited. Today’s launch of the Mobile Credit Score, speaks to impact. It is demystifying this lending animal. The gnuGrid and Airtel partnership is speaking to scale,” Owor said, adding: “For a long time, the banking industry had a total number of borrowers ranging between 2.3 million- to just under 3,000,000. That was before digital lending. The sheer power of synergies that technology is unlocking and the kind of data we will be bringing up, provides hope for our country”.
“By agreeing to partner, what gnuGrid and AMCUL are doing promises to unlock opportunities for 14 million borrowers, in one form or another, regardless of the amount. It is a great starting point,” Owor explained.
“There is a huge potential; an opportunity to unlock potential at the bottom of the pyramid that credit scoring using alternative data is bringing out. The power of partnerships and collaboration brings out the power of synergies, technology and data that can be harnessed to scale up access to credit,” he reiterated, adding: “For a long time, we used to have a perception, and perhaps we still do, that borrowers down there are very risky and the majority are in agriculture. If we maintain this perception without a solution, it means that our country will remain underdeveloped forever, because that’s where the biggest portion of our population is”.
Also speaking at the launch, Japhet Aritho, the Managing Director of Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda Limited (AMCUL) said the Mobile Credit Score will “revolutionise the way creditworthiness is perceived, assessed and applied in Uganda”.
“Traditional lending methods have often been rigid, relying heavily on lengthy processes and limited by a lack of comprehensive credit information. This Score is a dynamic, accurate representation of an individual’s creditworthiness, derived from an array of financial behaviours and data points,” he told stakeholders at the launch.
The score considers five key factors, namely, payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit, and credit mix gleaned from over 400 data sets.
“This detailed analysis ensures a fair and comprehensive assessment of one’s creditworthiness. Simply put, the gnuGrid Mobile Credit Score is about making borrowing easier and lending safer,” Aritho said.
To know your Mobile Credit Score, (Airtel customers only for now), please dial: *185*8*8*1# and follow the prompts.
To learn more about how your lending organisation can get plugged into the gnuGrid CRB Mobile Credit Score, you can reach gnuGrid CRB on this toll-free number: +256 (0) 800 330003.
gnuGrid CRB can also be reached on their WhatsApp Smart AI Chat: +256 (0) 785 210522
Alternatively, you can also visit gnuGrid CRB’s website: https://gnugridcrb.com/