Rabat- Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, has outsourced the service of centralization of irregular checks (SCCI) to Creditinfo Checks, an information center with an online database that provides information on irregular checks to companies and merchants in Morocco.
Creditinfo Checks is a subsidiary of the Creditinfo Group, a leading service provider for credit information and risk management solutions worldwide that has been operating in Morocco since 2016, after acquiring the credit bureau operation in Morocco from Experian.
Headquartered in Casablanca, the group holds, protects, and manages data that helps financial organizations to use accurate information to offer credit. Its credit reporting system also prevents over-indebtedness, as well as the risk of unpaid debts.
Its subsidiary, Creditinfo Checks, which will be operational by the end of 2018, will create a data-sharing information network accessible only to commercial companies–not banking institutions–to inquire about checks presented to them. This service was previously only provided by Bank Al-Maghrib, with no possibility of online consultation.
In concrete terms, any company that receives a check for a good, product, or service will have the opportunity through the service consultation to verify if the check is issued on a closed account or if it is the object of a declaration of loss, theft, fraudulent use, or falsification .
Abdellatif Jouhari, the Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, told Media24 during the press briefing that followed the council meeting of Bank Al-Maghrib on March 20, that the platform will serve as a “decision support tool” to prevent payment incidents.
“Before accepting a check, the merchant can inquire about its regularity, to see if it is the subject of a declaration of theft, loss, or scam,” Jouhari explained.
Bank Al-Maghrib seeks, through this action, to give the bank check more credibility and to encourage its use among economic actors.
According to central bank figures, more than 2.7 million complaints related to check issues were filed in 2016, totaling an amount of MAD 72.5 billion, while more than 598,000 individuals are banned from using checks in Morocco.
This contracting-out comes as part of the implementation of Bank’s Al-Maghrib’s strategic 2016-2018 plan for the development of the debtors’ information sharing system. It also serves as a step toward the Creditinfo Group’s desire to expand the range of its services in Morocco.
