Directorate General of Public Credit Registration and Financial Services Development
The Directorate General of Public Credit Registration and Financial Services Development has been established within the framework of Da Afghanistan Bank, focusing on two main areas:
The Public Credit Registration Section collects and analyzes the credit information of individuals and corporations (including borrower identification information, borrow background, and guarantee), and submits it to the relevant institutions through credit reports.
The directorate collects the required information from different resources, including commercial banks and financial institutions, by registering public credit. Then presents it to the relevant entities as a unified report, consisting of customer categorization. The public registry-related activities are carried out based on the law on mortgage of movable and immovable properties in banking transactions.
The Financial Services Development Section is responsible for increasing public access to official financial services specifically providing financial facilities to the low-income People. Furthermore, the main goal of the section consists of a range of tasks, including ensuring the rights of customers in commercial banks, improving the financial literacy and financial capacity of the country’s people, establishing a robust and dynamic environment for comprehensive economic growth, promoting and developing the culture of using formal financial services, alleviating the poverty, reducing the income inequality and efforts making for providing welfare for the public.
Vision:
The vision of the directorate is to prepare standard credit information under international norms and modern banking principles to provide intended credit services and ensure easy, safe, appropriate, cost-effective, high-quality, and sustainable access for the young population (those who are above the legal age), especially for low-income individuals and vulnerable and marginalized groups in society to formal financial services.
Objectives:
The objective of the directorate includes the collection, analysis, and providing credit information of individuals and companies to financial institutions to improve transparency and reduce credit risk, increase public access to financial services, establish a robust and dynamic environment for inclusive economic growth, promote and develop the culture of using formal financial services and elevating the level of the people’s welfare.
Tasks and Responsibilities:
The tasks and responsibilities of the Directorate of Credit Registration and Financial Services Development encompass a range of crucial tasks, including preventing the use of fraudulent documents and applications for obtaining credit, empowering users to achieve better loan records, increasing public access to formal financial services, providing special financial facilities for low-income groups, ensuring customer rights in commercial banks, improving financial literacy and awareness among individuals in the country, creating a robust and dynamic environment for inclusive economic growth, promoting and strengthening the culture of using formal financial services, reducing banking fees and costs, and alleviating poverty and income inequality.
Furthermore, the directorate enables banks to manage credit risks effectively, provide mortgage–related information to third parties, and create the transfer of rights based on the date and time of the mortgage.
Organizational Structure:
The Directorate General of Public Credit Registration and Financial Services Development consisting of two deputy directorate generals; public credit registration and financial services development, is led by a director general. Each deputy directorate runs and handles the relevant affairs.
Deputy Director General of Public Credit Registration:
Public Credit Registration System:
Establishing a credit registration system is one of the significant developments in the banking sector, which previously did not exist. Its establishment is deemed an outstanding and effective measure, as credit information was traditionally collected by sending official letters and inquiries to financial institutions and related entities. This process led to wasting time, bureaucracy, and increased credit risks.
The Public Credit Registration System is a full-fledged electronic and it has been developed according to international standards. The system provides access to financial resources in the country, allowing financial fund applicants to benefit from its advantages. The Public Credit Registration System collaborates with financial institutions in reasonable lending decision-making, providing required credit information to financial institutions and related entities without processing and wasting time.
The Public Credit Registration System collects and gathers the credit information of individuals from the banks and microfinance institutions and then presents it to the related entities in a credit report format after they are analyzed. The credit reports reduce credit risks and finance charges, increasing access to funds in the country.
The Public Credit Registration System operates based on the Da Afghanistan Bank law and credit reporting regulation. Currently, all commercial banks and several microfinance institutions use this a system.
System for Registering Mortgages Rights of Movable Property
Da Afghanistan Bank has developed a system for registering mortgage rights of movable property as per the law on mortgage of movable property for banking transactions to electronically register the mortgage notifications of movable property. This section provides the necessary facilities for an effective and transparent system to register mortgage announcements, focusing on two primary goals: First, approving the transfer of mortgage rights and publishing mortgage announcements to the third party to raise awareness.
Second, determining the priority of the mortgage based on the date and time of registration (determining the priority) unlike title (property) registration offices, such as registering property, registering the mortgage transactions of movable property in banking transactions, does not create or transfer ownership. The registration officials do not bear responsibility for competency and authenticity; the accuracy or validity of the information provided in the registered announcement only covers the following:
Identity of borrower
Name and contact details of lender
General or exclusive description of collaterals (mortgaged property)
Access to the system is free to everyone. Applicants can search the registration office online and for free, 24/7. They can search using the tax identification number of the borrower, the Tazkira, or the passport number, depending on whether the debtor is a company or an individual.
2. Deputy Director General of Financial Services Development:
Consumer Rights Protection and Complaint Redress Section: The section is responsible for protecting customer rights in the financial sector, ensuring transparency in providing financial products and services, maintaining the confidentiality of customer information, appropriate conduct with customers, and redressing complaints and resolving their financial disputes. The department analyzes and reviews the fees charged to financial customers by commercial banks and revises them to develop financial services when needed. Furthermore, the department identifies legal and regulatory barriers to developing financial services.
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Financing and Agricultural Sector Financing Section: The section bears the responsibility to identify financial issues in the micro, small, and medium enterprises sector and agricultural financing, as well as providing necessary and timely recommendations. It is also responsible for providing financial facilities to support small and medium (SME) enterprises and the agricultural sector, focusing on strengthening and offering both short-term and long-term financial facilities for small and medium enterprises and the agriculture industry.
Financial Innovation Section: The section is responsible for developing proper plans for the growth of modern banking and collaborates and coordinates with relevant institutions to increase public access to financial resources in cities and villages. Moreover, the section focuses on expanding banking through representatives and developing digital access points (Automatic Teller Machine - Point of Sales) and other digital financial services throughout the country. In addition, the section develops plans to regulate non-cash transactions.