Ghana’s credit reporting system is seeing a major shift as financial institutions increasingly turn to credit bureau services to assess, monitor and manage borrowers.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 Credit Reporting Activity Annual Report, financial institutions’ use of credit bureau services for credit monitoring purposes increased by 199.71% compared to the previous year.
The sharp increase reflects the changing nature of lending in Ghana, particularly the rapid expansion of mobile money loans and payroll lending. As more consumers access credit through digital channels, lenders are relying more heavily on credit information to understand borrowers’ repayment behaviour and manage emerging risks.
The development comes against the backdrop of banks continuing to dominate Ghana’s credit referencing system, accounting for 86.28% of total credit enquiries in 2025.
Mobile lending changes the credit game
The growing popularity of mobile money lending has altered how borrowers interact with financial institutions.
Loans that can be accessed through mobile platforms often involve faster application and approval processes. This convenience has also increased the need for lenders to obtain reliable information about borrowers before extending credit.
The Bank of Ghana attributed the increase in credit monitoring enquiries to the growth in mobile money loans and payroll lending.
That trend places greater importance on credit reporting because lenders need to make decisions quickly while still assessing the ability and willingness of customers to repay.
Credit bureau information can give lenders a broader picture of a borrower’s existing obligations and credit history. As digital lending continues to expand, these checks can become increasingly important in preventing borrowers from accumulating obligations beyond their repayment capacity.
Banks retain their commanding position
Banks remained by far the largest users of Ghana’s credit referencing system during 2025.
Their 86.28% share of total enquiries means that the banking sector continues to account for the overwhelming majority of searches conducted within the credit reporting system.
The position has remained consistent over the years, underscoring the central role banks play in formal credit assessment and risk management.
Microfinance and Microcredit institutions, meanwhile, accounted for 8.47% of total enquiries in 2025, down from 8.82% in 2024.
Searches conducted by savings and loan companies and other institutions also declined compared with the previous year.
The figures show that although more categories of financial institutions are participating in Ghana’s credit ecosystem, banks continue to account for the largest share of activity.
Credit applications remain the biggest driver
Credit applications represented the largest component of enquiries during the year.
According to the report, enquiries relating to credit applications accounted for 87.21% of total enquiries. Credit bureau searches accounted for another 10%, while loan recoveries represented 3%.
The distribution provides a useful picture of how financial institutions are using the credit reporting system.
Most enquiries remain directly connected to the process of assessing customers seeking credit. At the same time, the significant rise in credit monitoring indicates that lenders are increasingly using credit information beyond the initial lending decision.
That shift could become particularly important as lenders manage portfolios containing loans issued through increasingly automated and digital channels.
Credit bureaus face rising expectations
All licensed credit bureaus were actively engaged in selling credit reports and other services to financial institutions during 2025.
The Bank of Ghana noted that the licensed bureaus receive the same number and type of data from financial institutions in accordance with the central bank’s data submission requirements.
However, competition among the bureaus is not necessarily based on access to different underlying data.
The report explained that differences in services are related to the ability of each bureau to provide credit reports that meet the specific needs of lenders.
This places pressure on credit bureaus to deliver useful, timely and relevant information as financial institutions increasingly depend on credit data for lending and monitoring decisions.
A growing role in Ghana’s financial system
The expansion of credit monitoring points to a broader evolution in Ghana’s financial sector.
As lending becomes more digital, the credit reporting system is becoming increasingly important to the relationship between lenders and borrowers. Financial institutions need dependable information to manage their portfolios, while borrowers stand to benefit from a system that accurately reflects their credit behaviour.
The development also highlights the importance of data quality. A credit reporting system can only support sound lending decisions when information submitted by financial institutions is accurate, complete and updated.
The 2025 report, prepared in line with Section 58 of the Credit Reporting Act, 2007 (Act 726), provides a detailed assessment of developments within Ghana’s Credit Reporting System.
It covers statistical trends in credit enquiries and data submissions, the performance of credit bureaus, and the activities of financial institutions and Designated Data Providers during the year.
With mobile money lending and payroll credit continuing to influence borrowing patterns, the credit reporting system is taking on a more prominent role in Ghana’s financial sector.
The nearly 200% jump in credit monitoring activity shows that lenders are no longer relying solely on credit checks at the point of application. Increasingly, credit information is becoming part of the ongoing process of managing borrowers and protecting loan portfolios.
