The company has already held talks with Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, ANZ Grindlays Bank and Bank of India. It has also spoken to finance companies like Countrywide Consumer Financial Services, Kotak Mahindra Finance and also Housing Development Finance Corporation.

Experian is one of the leading suppliers in the world of information on consumers, and besides the United States and UK, it also has bureau projects in Italy, Germany, Brazil and South Africa.

The credit bureau will initially provide information on the credit history of individuals, repayment record of loans availed, address verification and credit applications made to various lenders. The bureau will also assist lenders in developing "scoring models" based on statistical analysis of their portfolio, which could act as a key determinant to future credit behaviourand also facilitate in decision-making.

Users will also be able to access information on specific and select target segments, which can be utilised for undertaking marketing campaigns. The introduction of consumer-credit bureaus in the country is expected to go a long way in reducing the number of defaults on credit cards, auto loans and housing loans.

Credit assessment of individuals is undertaken independently by lenders. The assessment of lenders is based mostly on insufficient data as information on credit exposure is not maintained at a central point. This information is only of clients and not easily available to other users.

Credit information on individuals is not available at a central source even for a price. A small beginning was, however, made with the entry of Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Equifirst and Onicra. D&B is into providing business information. Equifirst -- a joint venture between Equifax and First Leasing -- which has set up operations in Chennai, has not yet taken off in a big way,while Onicra has just started operations.

According to studies, 60 per cent of all consumer goods are bought on some form of credit. While the market for consumer credit is expanding, it is also turning riskier. The default on loans of all kinds is on the rise.

Consumer-credit companies are, therefore, becoming more conscious about credit assessment to keep bad debts low, while keeping volumes high.