Credit & Risk

Understanding finance agreement data within a company credit report.

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Chapter 1

What is finance agreement data?

Finance Agreement Data is made available as part of the Commercial Credit Data Sharing (CCDS) initiative mandated by the UK government under the Small Business Enterprise & Employment Act. The aim of CCDS is to promote competition in the lending market for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with a turnover of up to £25 million. 

The scheme requires nine major banks to share comprehensive data on business current accounts, credit cards, and loans for all their SME customers. This information, combined with existing credit report data, assists alternative finance providers and organisations in making informed commercial lending decisions.

Chapter 1

How is finance agreement data collected?

Creditsafe gathers and processes data from major banks and lenders, creating a monthly snapshot of commercial Current Accounts, Loans, and Credit Cards on almost 4 million companies (including sole traders and unincorporated businesses) with a turnover of up to £25 million.

CCDS Providers

As the CCDS initiative matures, Creditsafe will expand the number of commercial lenders contributing to the scheme through reciprocity rules. These rules stipulate that lenders must provide data back to Creditsafe to enhance the visibility of SME lending behaviour. This data will then be made available in the Finance Agreements section within a Creditsafe company credit report. 

Chapter 1

What finance agreement data is available?

Detailed commercial finance agreement data is available to finance providers and lenders participating in the CCDS scheme who reciprocate lending data back to Creditsafe. The data is made available within a company credit report under the "Finance Agreements" tab and includes historical information on current accounts, loans, and credit cards, as well as up to 48 months of account status history. 

Companies that do not offer financial products can only view summarised financial footprint data, which includes the total number of agreements and the date of the first and last finance agreement shared with Creditsafe. 

  1. Access finance agreement data via the Connect API

    Commercial credit data is also available via the Creditsafe Connect API, allowing you to integrate CCDS data into existing business processes or automate lending decisions via our Check & Decide decisioning tool.

Chapter 1

Who can access financial agreement data?

Finance providers & brokers

Companies must offer a finance product to be eligible to see complete detailed financial agreement data. Finance agreement data cannot be used for marketing or prospecting purposes but can be utilised for onboarding, customer management, and collections activities. Finance brokers can also access financial agreement data on behalf of lenders who do share their data via tri-party agreements as part of the CCDS scheme.

Companies providing one or more of the following loan or asset finance products can request access to complete finance agreement data through Creditsafe:

  • Flexible mortgages
  • Lease purchases
  • Consolidated debts
  • Conditional sales
  • Primary leases
  • Unsecured loans
  • Secondary leases
  • Mortgages
  • Dealer buy-backs
  • Secured loans or second mortgages
  • Fixed term accounts
  • Fixed-term credit sales
  • Variable term accounts
  • Fixed-term deferred payments
  • Contract hire
  • Variable subscriptions
  • Hire purchases
  • Finance lease
  • Contract hire
  • Variable subscriptions
  • Budget/revolving credit
  • Current accounts

Trade credit providers

Trade Credit and Finance Providers who don't contribute to the scheme can access affordability data, which shows how companies manage their financial agreements (current accounts, loans, and credit cards). This includes information on active/settled accounts, start and end dates, and facility types only.

Non-trade credit providers

All other clients, including solicitors, legal services, gaming, retail, local authorities, and clients vetting contractors or suppliers, can access summarised credit activity data which can be used to confirm a company is actively trading and holds an open current account, loan or credit card with any of the banks or lenders contributing data to the scheme. 

Chapter 1

How is finance agreement data being used?

Finance agreement data plays a crucial role in improving lending decisions. The combination of commercial credit data and additional information from Creditsafe offers greater insight into SME lending habits, enabling better evaluation of financial commitments and affordability.

Key benefits to using finance agreement data

  1. Risk Modelling

    Automatic analysis of current account information for integration into risk models.

  2. Affordability Assessments

    More measurable and manageable affordability assessments.

  3. Improved Decisioning

    Faster, more confident credit decisions.

  4. Fraud Prevention

    Reduced risk of fraud due to tampering with financial statements.

Lenders can use finance agreement data during the underwriting process and for ongoing customer management, monitoring liquidity and affordability to make better-informed decisions.

     

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Download the complete guide to CCDS

Discover more about Commercial Credit Data Sharing (CCDS) and its benefits to improved lending and affordability assessments in our handy downloadable guide. 

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