There was a significant improvement in Banks and Specialised Deposit Taking Institutions (SDIs') compliance with the Credit Reporting Act 2007, (Act 726), the Bank of Ghana has revealed.

This is in regard to data submission and usage of credit referencing services resulting in an improvement in the quality of data submitted to credit bureaus.

According to the Central Bank’s 2023 Annual Credit Report Activity Report, there was a significant reduction in complaints relating to credit reporting due to improvements in the quality of data submitted to credit bureaus and improvements in credit bureau operations.

Furthermore, the year recorded increased participation from Designated Data Providers (DDPs)2, particularly from retailers and automobile companies.

In 2023, the report said domestic and global developments largely from emerging financial technology (Fintech) innovations influenced the credit delivery landscape that helped shape the financial ecosystem.

Also, the active involvement of financial technology firms in credit delivery resulted in a total of 15.23 million loans being disbursed at a value of GH¢7.59 billion.

This represented 24.0% and 37.0% growth, respectively, over the same period in 2022.

Additionally, the total outstanding credit of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) stood at GH¢77.0 billion at end-December 2023, compared to GH¢70.0 billion at end-December 2022.

This represented a nominal growth of 10.0%.

Similarly, the average lending rate of DMBs reduced by 1.83% from 33.75 in 2023 compared with 35.58 in December 2022.