The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has issued two decisions requiring companies and entities operating in consumer finance and medium, small and micro enterprise (MSME) financing to establish real-time connectivity with credit bureau iScore.
The move is part of efforts to strengthen oversight of financing procedures, ensure regulatory supervision extends across all stages of the financing process, and enhance the speed and accuracy of procedures related to creditworthiness assessments and customer reporting.
Under FRA Board Decision No. 174 of 2026, companies licensed to conduct consumer finance activities are required to notify the credit bureau in real time when financing is approved for a customer, when the financing is disbursed, when the customer makes any full or partial payment related to the financing, when the financing is terminated, and when the company takes judicial or legal action in relation to the financing, as well as when the customer’s status changes in relation to such action.
Consumer finance companies are also required to submit data and information on financing granted to their customers to the credit bureau using a form prepared for this purpose within five days following the end of each month.
For companies, associations, and Class A or B non-governmental organisations licensed to provide financing to medium, small, and micro enterprises, FRA Board Decision No. 175 of 2026 requires them to notify the credit bureau in real time in the same cases outlined above: when financing is approved for a customer, when it is disbursed, when the customer makes any full or partial payment related to the financing, when the financing is terminated, when the company takes judicial or legal action in relation to the financing, and when the customer’s status changes in relation to such action.
The two decisions require companies and entities operating in both activities to take the necessary steps to complete electronic connectivity with the credit bureau within three months from the date the decisions take effect, following their publication in the Egyptian Gazette and on the FRA’s website.
FRA Chairperson Islam Azzam said real-time connectivity between companies and entities operating in consumer finance and MSME financing and credit bureau iScore would enhance their ability to make sound financing decisions, contributing to the growth of these activities and improving their efficiency. It would also facilitate the monitoring and regulatory oversight of data.
Azzam added that real-time connectivity would positively affect operational efficiency and financing decisions, representing an important additional step in the regulatory framework governing consumer finance and MSME financing.
He said the move would help ensure the quality of customers’ creditworthiness assessments, facilitate reviews of existing financing, monitor customers’ financial positions, ensure financing is used for its designated purpose, track customers’ fulfilment of their obligations, and address credit risks to maintain the financial soundness of entities operating in these activities.
The FRA chairperson stressed the need for customers’ credit data to be updated accurately and in real time, helping non-bank financing companies and entities make sound financing decisions and reducing the risk of customers falling into financial distress or being exposed to repayment risks. This would positively contribute to the stability of the non-bank financial sector and regulatory efforts to ensure orderly markets.
Azzam said the decision to introduce real-time connectivity builds on the FRA’s efforts to balance the development of activities under its supervision with the protection of customers’ rights through modern digital mechanisms and greater integration among participants in non-bank financial markets, in line with the legislative and regulatory frameworks governing capital markets, insurance, and non-bank financing activities.
