The Credit Information Bureau (CIB) is a specialized department of Bangladesh Bank, established to maintain data on borrowers and lessees from non-bank financial institutions. Whenever an individual applies for a loan, lease, or credit card from any bank or financial institution, the bank first reviews the applicant's CIB report.
CIB was established in 1992 under the World Bank's Financial Sector Reform Project. Its main purpose is to prevent the spread of default loans. Banks and financial institutions use CIB reports to reduce the risk when distributing new loans and rescheduling existing ones.
Every bank and financial institution in the country must submit monthly information on distributed loans, leases, and credit cards to the CIB. Even if a loan or lease account is rescheduled, the information must be sent to the CIB. If any credit card bill is not paid by the due date or remains unpaid, it is reported to the CIB. In such cases, the customer may face difficulties and may even be denied a new credit card from other banks.
Importance and Necessity of CIB:
The CIB report is crucial. It has a relationship with the stock market as well. According to securities laws, if any director of a company is a loan defaulter, the company's Initial Public Offering (IPO) or rights share issuance proposal is not considered. After a company submits a proposal for an IPO or rights share issuance, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) collects a loan-related report from CIB on the company and its directors. Even if everything else is positive, if the CIB report shows any director as a loan defaulter, the company's proposal is rejected.
How to Get a CIB Report:
Typically, individuals cannot obtain a CIB report directly.
The relevant bank or financial institution collects it from the central bank
and may charge the customer if necessary.