Effect of credit information sharing on the credit market performance of commercial banks in Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to determine the effect of credit information sharing on the credit market of commercial banks in Kenya, as well as review of the growing body of theoretical and empirical studies that have attempted to investigate the various dimension and effects of information sharing on the credit market performance in the context of the commercial banks in Kenya since its launch in 2010 as a way of mitigating the information asymmetry between the lenders in the credit market one to lack of institutional mechanism that could allow the exchange of information among banks concerning the borrowers characteristics. A census of the 43 commercial bank that are licensed under by Kenya Banking Act was carried out where secondary data was collected from their published financial statement financial statement between years 2008 to 2014. Two CRBs (CRB Africa and Metropol CRB) provided data on the intensity of use of the credit reports by different banks. The researcher used descriptive statistics, regression analysis and correlation efficient method. In order to test this relationship regression analysis was run with total loans minus non-performing to total loans as the dependent variable and the log of total loans advanced and the number of CRB enquiries made by commercial banks in Kenya as the independent variables. The findings were that credit market performance as measured by total loans minus non-performing to total loans is positively related to credit information sharing (number of CRBs enquiries made by commercial banks), total loans advanced and total assets. Increase in credit market performance was enhanced after the establishment and operationalization of credit information mechanism compared as before. The study therefore recommends that the government should extend credit information sharing beyond the commercial banks and also facilitate sharing of both positive and negative information. Thus the use of credit information sharing was found to be of a positive effect on the credit market performance of commercial banks in Kenya.