How your credit score could impact your phone connection

Al Etihad Credit Bureau's (AECB) Credit Reports and Scores will be used by UAE telecom operators Etisalat and du to assess customers.

The operators will put more reliance on AECB’s reports and scores while onboarding postpaid clients and devices’ buyers in order to appraise the individual’s or company’s ability to meet future telco-related payments based on past payment behaviour.

Etisalat and du have become the largest entities in the UAE to provide outstanding bills and payment history on a regular basis on individuals and companies in the UAE to the Bureau.

AECB collects credit information from banks, finance companies, telecom operators, water and electricity companies and courts which feed into the generation of Credit Reports as well as forming the basis for predictive and analytics products such as the Credit Score and other unique indicators.

"All banks and finance companies in the UAE use Credit Reports and Credit Scores to support their decisions in assessing applications for credit facilities," explained Marwan Ahmad Lutfi, CEO of AECB.

"With both Etisalat and du historic and current bill payment information submitted to AECB, it is now critical for both individuals and companies to maintain timely payment schedules and avoid defaults as essential telecommunications services payment patterns are going to show on credit reports and will undoubtedly impact one’s creditworthiness and ability to avail the attractive products and services offered within the industry."

Fahad Al Hassawi, du’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, said their company is "committed to incorporating international best practices across all our operational verticals.

"By utilising Al Etihad Credit Bureau’s products, we are given visibility on key data to help us mitigate risks to protect not only our shareholders, but our customers and extended stakeholders as well."

Meanwhile, Khaled ElKhouly, Chief Consumer Officer at Etisalat, echoed the same sentiments. "Today’s announcement reiterates our commitment to sustainably manage the expectations of all our stakeholders and customers across verticals," he added.

Both operators have been working with Al Etihad Credit Bureau for the past four years and are now active data providers to the existing 78 currently with AECB.

With the addition of both Etisalat and du’s data, AECB’s customer information database now totals 9 million individuals and 600,000 companies.