The Credit Bureau of Cambodia officially commenced operations at its Phnom Penh headquarters on Monday, according to CBC spokesman Steve Vaile, almost four years from when the idea for the bureau was first conceived.

The CBC, a joint venture between Australia and New Zealand-based Vida Advantage, the Cambodia Microfinance Association and Association of Banks in Cambodia, aims to centralise loan information from the Kingdom’s banks and microfinance institutions in order to allow for better lending facilitation in the country.

Lenders will have easier access to the loan records of potential debtors, which causes a “reduction in finance sector loan rates because they have more information”, Vaile said.

“Foreign direct investment increases as there is more transparency in the sector,” he added.