The National Credit Regulator (NCR) of South Africa has collaborated with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to launch an onboarding hackathon to aid small credit providers.

Yesterday, the two companies announced their partnership, and stated the goal of the event is to leverage technology to encourage the adoption of digital processes, improve the resilience and regulatory compliance of small credit providers and improve the credit information sharing ecosystem within the South African consumer credit market.

The hackathon will bring together software developers, tech companies, and industry specialists to address the problem statement "How can we leverage technological innovation to improve the resilience and compliance of small credit providers?"

Participants will be encouraged to identify technological solutions that will allow small credit providers to submit credit information, reporting, and regulatory requirements to the NCR and credit bureaus automatically.

Nomsa Motshegare, CEO, NCR, says: "Small credit providers play an essential role in providing financial services to underserved consumers. We are pleased to announce our collaboration with the IFC and Japanese government on this project."

Adamou Labara, country manager, IFC South Africa, explains: "Timely and accurate credit reporting is a crucial, but often neglected, element of economic development. This techsprint event (hackathon) will develop new technological solutions to assist South African minor credit providers in complying with credit reporting regulations and enhancing their operations.”

The virtual briefing session hackathon will take place on August 22, 2023. Software developers who wish to participate must attend a briefing session; interested parties can register here.