Saudi Credit Bureau ( SIMAH)  , the 1st  pioneer credit bureau in Saudi Arabia in charge of providing credit information on both consumer and commercial entities,  and Thiqah,  the leading business services company ,  signed  an agreement by which SIMAH can access all commercial data. SIMAH’s members  will be able to have the commercial registries and status of more than 1 million corporates and more than 80,000 audited financial statements , related commercial registries, CR owners and financial statements. SIMAH announcement came at the margin of its participation in the Financial Sector Development Program (a Saudi Vision 2030 program), which took place in last April  under the aegis of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman.  

”Total  number of consumers reports stored in  SIMAH  database is about 15 million  which explains Saudi Arabia Depth of Credit Information Index being 8 out of 8 in 2018.  By achieving maturity of credit information industry, maximal stability of existing financial systems and build credit industry perception through promoting it as a neutral towards the local community and adding to the national economy,  SIMAH works to meet FSC’s objectives of highlighting the competitive position of the Saudi Arabia’s financial sector in the Middle East and in the world, introducing of the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) and its initiatives in line with Vision 2030, creating a platform for financial industry leaders to meet, communicate and establish new relationships, exchanging experiences and discussing challenges and best practices for the development of the financial sector and offering investment opportunities, stimulating competition and attracting investment in the Saudi financial sector” SIMAH’s CEO Swaied Al-Zahrani states .

SIMAH  has become the first credit reporting agency in the MENA region to have its own commercial trademarks . Established in 2002 , operated since 2004 and issued more than 82 million  credit reports since 2004 till end of December 2018 with data quality score of % 99.4  , SIMAH’s newly     trademarks come as a further phase of SIMAH new identity.  New trademarks registered by Ministry of Commerce and Investment  include FINDATA ( a new innovative marketing  concept in the credit reporting industry) ;  SIMATI ( consumer reporting system ) ; SIMAT ( commercial reporting system )  and MOARIF ( Legal Entity Identifier). MOARIF is the first Local Operating Unit in the MENA accredited by Global Legal Entity Identifier Originations ( GLIEF) , run by SIMAH and covers 18 countries. Total  number of credit instruments at SIMAH is more than 47 million CIs.

” Contrary to many misconceptions, SIMAH  is a completely neutral institution and does not in any way interfere in the decisions of its members, who independently choose whether to grant credit.  Each credit granting entity has a set of procedures to assess credit requests and take the most appropriate decision. SIMAH’s role in this process is exclusively the provision of right, precise and up-to-date credit information” Alzahrani  stressed .

SIMATI and SIMAT reporting systems are very important in today’s financial system. Creditors consider information held by these systems a primary factor when they evaluate the creditworthiness of data subjects and monitor the credit circumstances of consumers. This information flow enables credit markets to function more efficiently and at lower cost than would otherwise be possible. Well-functioning financial markets contribute to sustainable growth and economic development, because they typically provide an efficient mechanism for evaluating risk and return to investment, and then managing and allocating risk. Financial infrastructure (FI) is a core part of all financial systems. The quality of financial infrastructure determines the efficiency of intermediation, the ability of lenders to evaluate risk and of consumers to obtain credit, insurance and other financial products at competitive terms.

CEO of SIMAH clarifies that  information quality is the basic building block of an effective credit reporting environment. Accuracy of data implies that such data is free of error, truthful, complete and up to date. SIMAH’s financial quality score reaches % 99. 94. It is well preserved in SIMAH that inaccurate data may lead to numerous problems, including unjustified loan denials or higher borrowing costs. Quality also means that data is sufficient and adequate, implying that relevant detailed information is captured, including negative as well as positive data; information from as many relevant sources is gathered, within the limits established by law; information is sufficient in terms of the period over which observations are available. SIMATI and SIMAT have relevant, accurate, timely and sufficient data – including positive – collected on a systematic basis from all reliable, appropriate and available sources, and retain this information for a sufficient amount of time.

To realize its members’ commercial needs, SIMAH has developed recently benchmarks reports  and SIMAH 360.  During the last 15 years, SIMAH has generated 110,000 financial reports while the total number of consumers registered at SIMAH is more than 1,1 million individuals .  Benchmarking reports are detailed reports that compare key metrics of the organization’s products and portfolio to the competitors. With this type of report, credit providers would be more able to prepare budgets, make informed business decisions & develop business forecasting. SIMAH 360 provides tools to analyze large batches of data and credit information and to develop clear strategies to achieve customer demands. This helps strengthen the decision-making process; reduce credit risk and increase profitability; increase the company’s market share; create new, diversified products and develop its current product line. SIMAH 360 includes accurate information on more than 200 variables, including up-to-date credit performance information, SIMAH’s assessment of creditworthiness (i.e. SIMAH score), geographical information and contact information derived from SIMAH’s comprehensive database.

About: Thiqah business services is a company owned by the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants.  Thiqah seeks to provide high-quality services that represent THIQAH’s vision in leading change through a professional that has unique talents and work in a creative environment.