CRIF Becomes The First Open Banking AISP to be Registered in 21 European Countries Through the Acquisition of Credit Data Research Realtime Holdings Ltd.

LONDON and BOLOGNA, Italy, November 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

CRIF - a global company specialized in credit bureau, business information and credit solutions (http://www.crif.com) - has announced the acquisition, through its fully owned company CRIF Buergel, of Credit Data Research Realtime Holdings Ltd. (http://www.creditdataresearch.com).

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This UK-based company was among the first companies in the EU to be recognized by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Account Information Service Provider (AISP) supplying credit scoring. Credit Data Research has been named a leader in developing Credit Solutions for Open Banking by the Nesta Global Innovation Foundation. Moreover, it has developed Credit Passport, the first platform for SME Credit Scoring compliant with banking regulations.

This transaction is an important stage in the strategic business development of CRIF, becoming the first player in the credit information sector to be registered as an AISP in 21 European countries.
The company has been renamed CRIF Real Time Ltd. Thanks to the acquisition, CRIF can now offer Open Banking services to enable the exchange of retail credit payment data between consumers/companies and organizations, and improve transparency in dealing with business partners and customers.  

As a European entity registered in the UK, CRIF is now the first company across Europe authorized to offer a new suite of services helping customers and companies benefit from the Open Banking initiative, with the PSD2 Passport issued in other 20 European countries. CRIF will be able to complement its existing credit bureau services and solutions for consumers, companies and financial institutions as a part of a broader framework of Open Banking initiatives.

CRIF 

CRIF is a global company specializing in credit bureau, business information, and credit solutions. Established in 1988 in Bologna (Italy), CRIF operates over four continents and is currently the leading group in continental Europe in the field of banking credit information and one of the main operators on a global level in the field of integrated services for business & commercial information.

Over 6,300 banks and financial institutions and 55,000 companies use CRIF services in 50 countries on a daily basis. Furthermore, for the sixth year running, CRIF has been included in the prestigious IDC FinTech Rankings, taking 35^th place in 2018 in the global classification. In 2017, CRIF's total revenue was above 511.2 million Euros.