Credit Bureaus are an essential element of the financial sector. It is defined as a data bank that keeps records of consumers' payment patterns of various types of credit obligations. Nowadays the credit bureau is considered to be an indivisible part of financial operations in most developed countries. It is the main driving force in the development and expansion of various financial services.

"ACRA Credit Reporting" CJSC, the first private credit bureau in Armenia, was founded in January 2004 and has already signed contracts with banks, micro finance organizations, utility companies, grantors and insurance companies operating in Armenia. The primary objective of credit bureau operations is data gathering from the above mentioned institutions, processing, timely updating of information as well as safeguarding the information and preserving the necessary confidentiality.

ACRA is dedicated to maintain its position as a leader in providing new and innovative risk assessing services and other business solutions to clients in banking, financial, insurance, and general business industries for effective business decision through a staff of highly trained people sharing a tradition of integrity and service to its clients.

The establishment of a modern credit reporting system in the country will decrease the time and costs of the borrowers' risk assessment procedures, facilitate the most optimal allocation of financial sector credit resources and boost credit volumes in the economy. Thus, by cooperating with ACRA credit bureau financial institutions get the opportunity to

• become more informed of their customers' credit risk by receiving cumulative information on their previous payment behavior patterns and current credit obligations with various financial and non financial institutions
• discover and attract credit worthy customers
• monitor irresponsible borrowers
• save time and money spent on information gathering by receiving the borrower's credit report within seconds
• minimize the credit risk in the financial sector as consumers become more cautious while fulfilling their financial obligations to avoid getting negative information into their credit reports. This fact contributes to the formation of a REPUTATION factor in general public mentality as an additional device to stimulate repayment of loans

ACRA Credit Bureau through its wide-ranging and comprehensive services helps organizations discover the most suitable and efficient prospects and make well-informed decisions to identify and enhance customer relationships, effectively manage risk and prevent fraud, constantly create facilitating options and new opportunities.

Whether ACRA deals a corporate customer or an individual consumer, the services provided will highly promote the clients' sound financial health by

• offering them competitive advantage, which enables them to manage financial risk and seize market opportunities
• boosting consumer confidence through the provision of impartial picture of one's financial performance
• considering clients' needs and concerns to better work with them towards the optimization of their business and/or budget management