A NEW credit information service is offering important financial information on individuals with poor credit history, a news conference in Nicosia was told yesterday.
Creditinfo Cyprus Ltd is marketing itself as a fast and efficient database that identifies potential economic risks at an early stage for lenders and providers of credit.
Managing Director Theodoros Kringou explained that through the database, subscribers would be able to warn each other of potential risks when dealing with those who have been rejected for credit already.
“We have already a large number of clients, including large credit organisations and those selling goods on credit. Our experience shows that customers who are making use of the database in their debt collection procedures and before making decisions on the granting of loans and credit have better results,” he said.
The Chairman of Creditinfo, Arsall Hafsteinsson, expressed optimism that the database would be successful with Cypriot companies, emphasising “our company was harder to open in Malta, it’s the only one of it’s kind there. Malta has a far worse economical structure than Cyprus. I believe Cyprus is more Western, I can see just from looking around the shops there are many western fashion labels, so with this in mind Cyprus was a good place to set up.”
Elaborating on the decision to launch the database in Cyprus, Reynir Gretarsson, Chief Executive of Office of Creditinfo, saw Cyprus as a “stepping stone into south eastern Europe,” adding: “we want to branch out into Greece, then there is the Middle East of course, so we can grow on a wider scale.”
Gretarsson admitted his team was not Cypriot and did not speak Greek, but stressed that “the company has endeavoured to gather data from local Cypriots since last December and we welcome Cypriot parties to our company. Our country, Iceland, has a small population so we have the experience of working in a country where everybody knows everybody, or they think they do.”
Creditinfo Cyprus Ltd was established in 2001. It has created analytical details for over 150,000 companies in Cyprus. Subscribers are issued with a user name and password, which allows them to access the company’s database through the Internet at www.creditinfo.com.cy. It also operates in Iceland, Malta, Romania and Lithuania.
