CHANGES to the way credit reference agencies access Islanders’ data are being proposed by the government to stop the drain of providers from Jersey.
By early 2024, the government aims to supply the agencies with access to data from the People Directory, a central repository that holds address and contact details of the general public.
This will help agencies provide affordability checks and CDD (KYC) checks in accordance with money laundering obligations and will help Islanders obtain loans, credit cards and other sources of credit.
Jersey currently has different sources of data, which has created complications and increased costs for those companies offering the same services to the Jersey market.
Deputy Elaine Millar, Assistant Chief Minister with responsibility for financial services, said: ‘Over the past five years, there has been a withdrawal of credit card providers from Jersey. This proposal is a great step forward and should allow more banks and other financial services providers to offer credit to individuals and businesses in Jersey.’
‘If enacted, we hope this should remove some of the known hurdles to banks and card service providers offering products such as credit cards. We hope that banks, loan companies and credit card providers will recognise this and provide a full range of services for Islanders.’
Carl Walker, chair of the Jersey Consumer Council, has previously said Islanders had been left frustrated after having their applications for new cards refused when their old ones had expired and their accounts closed despite having good credit histories.
Mr Walker said the problem had arisen largely because there was no single electoral register, listing all residents in Jersey, which would allow the finance companies to check applications. He warned that the trend could spread to mortgages, loans and other financial services.
Islanders can give their views on this change to the way agencies access data at gov.je/Government/Consultations/Pages/CreditReferenceAgencyAccessToInformation.aspx.
The People Directory is currently used across Government of Jersey departments to deliver a consistent and collective service to individuals, companies and organisations.
