Choosing a credit bureau in Morocco and when to call both
In Morocco, Bank Al-Maghrib’s credit-risk centralisation service sends the same bank file to its two bureau delegates, Creditinfo Maroc and Quantik Maroc, and banks must consult a delegate before lending. The new law will widen the sources to telecoms, utilities and deferred-payment firms, while each bureau scores the bank file its own way and will hold its own non-bank data. That makes the bureau choice a choice about more than the shared records: you must decide where the strongest data for each applicant sits and whether checking both is worth the cost.
What the bureaus share and what they add
Many lenders expect either delegate to give them the same answer. Bank Al-Maghrib collects credit information from banks and passes it to the delegates of its credit risk centralisation service. Its delegates, Creditinfo Maroc and Quantik Maroc, receive that bank data. Credit institutions must consult a delegate for the applicant’s solvency report before granting credit.
If the bank file is shared, signing with one bureau can look like the simpler choice. The shared records give you a starting point for comparing the cost of another enquiry with the report’s value for your applicants.
| Bureau | Role today | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Creditinfo Maroc | Delegate of the Bank Al-Maghrib credit risk centralisation service | Took over the first delegate's bureau in 2016 |
| Quantik Maroc | Delegate of the Bank Al-Maghrib credit risk centralisation service | 2016, first named Dun & Bradstreet Credit Bureau |
Each bureau adds its own score and value-added services to the shared bank file. Compare those bureau-specific additions when deciding whether the reports can serve the same purpose.
How the law may widen bureau data
Once Law 01-22’s implementing texts are published, bureaus may contract with telecoms operators, utilities, deferred-payment firms and other eligible data providers. The law prohibits exclusive contracts. It also links a provider’s access to information processed by bureaus to that provider supplying or giving access to its own information.
That may make the information beyond the shared bank file differ too. The law permits a wider set of providers, but your choice still depends on which sources and services are useful for your applicants. Once Law 01-22’s implementing texts are published, a bureau may limit enquiries only within the financial and technical terms of the subscription.
| Step | The duty | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Before lending | Consult a delegate for the applicant's solvency report | Bank Al-Maghrib SCR page |
| Consent (Law 01-22) | Prior consent, after the information set by Bank Al-Maghrib's model | Art. 24, 30, 31 |
| Every application (Law 01-22) | Use bureau information for each application, rescheduling and restructuring | Art. 28 |
| Sharing (Law 01-22) | Supply your data, or lose access. No exclusive contracts, no cap on enquiries | Art. 22, 27 |
| A decline (Law 01-22) | Tell the consumer when the refusal rests on the report or a bureau score | Art. 25 |
| A dispute (Law 01-22) | Through the bureau or the lender, then the Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib | Art. 33 |
| Retention (Law 01-22) | Five years at most | Art. 17 |
Keep the current duty to consult a delegate separate from the duties that apply once the implementing texts are published. The legal change permits broader data sharing. Check which providers each bureau actually receives data from before choosing.
Use bureau reports as input to credit decisions
A bureau report informs your credit decision. Your policy makes it. A solvency report may not give an opinion on whether to grant the loan, so treat it as input to your assessment and use your policy to determine its effect on approval, limit or terms.
After Bank Al-Maghrib publishes the implementing texts for Law 01-22, you must obtain the applicant’s prior consent after giving the information specified by Bank Al-Maghrib’s model. If you refuse credit because of information in the solvency report or a bureau’s value-added service, such as a score, you must tell the applicant, who may contest the decision.
If you are comparing bureau arrangements across markets as part of a Morocco assessment, the Africa credit bureau overview provides that wider context.
Test when a second bureau call changes outcomes
Stay able to call either bureau, or both. The cost of an extra report is real, but so is the cost of missing useful information: a second score could affect an approval, a limit or the terms you offer. There is no evidence here that ranks the bureaus by price, hit rate or coverage. Test the value on your own applicants.
Replay past applications through the first bureau you would call, then compare the decision with the one you would make after adding the second report. For an application near your cutoff, check whether the second report changes the approval, limit or terms. Then compare the added call cost with the additional bad applicants identified, the good applicants wrongly excluded, the losses avoided and the profit retained. For each group, count the approvals, limits or terms changed by the extra report to measure its decision benefit.
Start the test with applications where the first score leaves the decision open, the applicant has little bank history, or the amount makes more information worth evaluating. The data source waterfall tool compares source orders using call costs, hits, losses and profit. Use your own outcomes to choose the order. Decisimo’s data source documentation describes connections to REST APIs and SOAP web services, and routing to a fallback branch when a call fails. Confirm the specific connection arrangements with either Moroccan bureau.
For a failed first call, define the fallback before launch. If the second bureau is available and your rules allow it, route the application there. If neither report is available, hold the decision for review and keep missing information separate from a low-risk result. Record the reason for the call, the source and response, any fallback used, the resulting decision and the reason for that decision. In testing, also record whether the second report changed the decision, limit or terms. Use that record to compare each call’s cost with its effect on the lending outcome.
Use this procedure to set the bureau route for your Moroccan applications:
- Pull a solvency report from a delegate before granting credit.
- Read the report as information for your decision. Your policy determines whether to lend and on what terms.
- Following publication of Law 01-22’s implementing texts, obtain prior consent using the information required by Bank Al-Maghrib’s model, and supply your own data to keep access.
- If a refusal rests on report information or a bureau score, tell the applicant, who may contest it.
- Replay applications through each proposed source order. Compare call costs with changes to approvals, limits and terms, and with the bad and good applicants each source identifies.
- Call the second bureau when the first score leaves the decision open, the applicant has little bank history, or the amount makes another call worth testing. Route a failed call to the other bureau when available, otherwise hold the case for review. Record the trigger, responses, fallback and decision so you can test the rule against later outcomes.
Questions about credit bureaus in Morocco
How many credit bureaus are there in Morocco?
There are two bureau delegates named by Bank Al-Maghrib: Creditinfo Maroc and Quantik Maroc. Compare the information and services each provides for your applicants.
Do Creditinfo Maroc and Quantik hold the same data?
They receive the same bank data through Bank Al-Maghrib, but their scores and value-added services differ. When the implementing texts for Law 01-22 are published, non-bank data may differ too. Test the reports against your own applications.
Must a bank consult a credit bureau before lending in Morocco?
Yes. Bank Al-Maghrib says credit institutions must consult a delegate for the applicant’s solvency report before granting credit. Include that report in your pre-lending assessment.
What changes with Law 01-22?
With publication of its implementing texts, the law permits a wider range of data providers, requires prior consent and data sharing for access, and bars exclusive contracts. Set your consent and data-sharing process for those requirements.
Can a bureau stop me from using the other one?
Following publication of Law 01-22’s implementing texts, a bureau may not stop a provider or user from asking for or supplying information to another bureau. Check the subscription’s financial and technical terms when planning enquiries.
What must I tell an applicant I refuse?
After Law 01-22’s implementing texts are published, tell the applicant if the refusal rests on information in the solvency report or a bureau’s value-added service, such as a score. The applicant may contest it, so record the information that drove the refusal.
How long can a bureau keep credit information?
Under Law 01-22, once its implementing texts are published, a bureau may keep information for five years at most. Account for that limit when reviewing your data-sharing arrangements.
