How development partners can enable an inclusive multi-bureau future

• by Alvina Zafar, Sunil Bhat, Samveet Sahoo and Zaki Haider
• Dec 11, 2025
• 4 min

Bangladesh’s multi-bureau system requires three crucial foundations: Regulators and development partners enforce strong oversight, sequence implementation by lender readiness, and provide targeted technical assistance. Effective reporting, harmonized data standards, and borrower protections are essential for inclusion and high-quality credit information.

In the first part of this three-part blog series, we examined the fundamental challenge of data quality that Bangladesh’s new multi-bureau credit system faces. We established that financial service providers (FSPs) must report complete and standardized information to ensure borrowers’ repayment histories serve as verifiable financial assets across the entire market. Only through this commitment can the system realize its promise of inclusion.

In this second part, we focus on the architects of the system. The Bangladesh Bank, government ministries, and global development partners (DPs) must recognize the critical truth that this reform extends beyond the licensure of new credit bureaus. The objective centers on financial inclusion at scale. The architects of the reform must actively execute the following three essential elements to drive this systemic change:

• Strong regulatory oversight;
• Sequenced implementation;
• Targeted technical assistance.

The Bangladesh Bank established a robust regulatory framework for the multi-bureau system. Comprehensive guidelines are now available, and the rules mandate full-file reports, shared data submission obligations, and reciprocity, which refers to the requirement that any institution accessing credit bureau data must also provide its own borrower data to the bureau. This ensures that all participating institutions contribute to and benefit from a comprehensive and transparent credit information system.

This framework is intentionally broad and includes all major lender segments, such as banks, nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs), microfinance institutions (MFIs), cooperatives, and digital lenders.

On paper, this foundation promotes broad market participation. In practice, however, the quality and coverage of data reporting depend heavily on the technical capabilities and existing incentives of individual lenders. While large commercial banks and leading MFIs operate centralized management information systems (MIS) that can integrate bureau reporting quickly and efficiently, this is not the case across the sector.

Many smaller MFIs and cooperatives rely on simple, branch-level systems. This infrastructure gap critically undermines how well they can deliver consistent, standardized, and timely reports. If these smaller institutions fail to report their client data, then the very clients they serve remain invisible to the new system. This would most significantly affect rural entrepreneurs, informal workers, and thin-file borrowers who have limited or no history in the formal banking system.

The introduction of private credit bureaus, therefore, will not automatically shift the system toward behavior-based assessment. Success depends entirely on the following three factors:

• Enforcement of the regulatory architecture;
• Consistent participation by lenders;
• Protections for borrowers to prevent unintended exclusion.

Global DPs become an indispensable force at this juncture. Institutions, such as the World Bank and development finance institutions (DFIs), must provide strategic support for the transition. They must offer a carefully sequenced strategy, effective enforcement mechanisms, and technical assistance across a diverse set of lenders. These partners should actively support the Bangladesh Bank to strengthen both the regulatory environment and supervisory capacity.

These partners can strengthen the ecosystem through the interventions below:

• Sequenced implementation: DPs should help the Bangladesh Bank segment lenders based on MIS maturity. The regulator can then define differentiated and time-bound minimum standards for each segment. Smaller institutions struggle with real-time systems. DPs can support the introduction of batch submissions as a practical interim solution.
• Strengthened oversight: DPs can enhance the supervisory capabilities of the Bangladesh Bank and the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA). This enhancement includes the following two priorities:
  • Harmonize data standards across all sectors: Disparities in data fields, definitions, and collection methods between the Bangladesh Bank-regulated banks and the MRA-regulated MFIs can lead to data fragmentation. DPs must support a unified approach to ensure that the bureaus effectively use and compare the information reported by all lenders.
  • Improve model governance oversight: The shift to a multi-bureau system will introduce multiple, privately developed credit-scoring methodologies. Supervisors must ensure that bureau score models remain transparent, explainable, and non-discriminatory. Strong oversight is essential to prevent automated decision-making from unintentionally excluding or unfairly pricing loans for specific borrower segments. Development partners can provide technical support and draw on international best practices to help strengthen model governance, supervisory review, and audit frameworks.

Bangladesh must embrace the responsible integration of alternative data. This action will open up the market for thin-file borrowers. Once the core credit system proves reliable, alternative data can substantially enrich bureau models. Data from mobile money transactions, merchant sales, and utility payments will all add value.

DPs should enable stakeholders to design standards for alternative data use. They must help develop interoperable data exchange formats that allow this non-traditional information to flow securely and efficiently.

Critically, DPs must help strengthen Bangladesh’s consumer protection framework. The system must embed the key borrower rights mentioned below to ensure trust and fairness:

• The right to access and correct credit data;
• Streamlined dispute resolution mechanisms;
• Notice before adverse action protocols.

Finally, DPs should support national efforts in financial literacy. Borrowers must understand how lenders use their credit histories and how to proactively manage their own credit reputation. This education empowers borrowers and reinforces the integrity of the system.

Bangladesh’s multi-bureau reform is emblematic of a critical moment. This reform goes beyond a technological upgrade and constitutes an institutional transformation. Regulators and DPs must commit fully to achieve inclusion and growth. Strong regulation and support will establish the foundation for systemic stability. While this groundwork is vital, the ultimate success of this reform depends on the effective use of this rich new data. Lenders must assess risk confidently for millions of informal workers. Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Bangladesh currently face exclusion from formal finance. This system can change that.

In the third part of this series, we will examine market incentives and global lessons that drive creditworthiness assessment through alternative data. This analysis will show how the new multi-bureau system can serve as a mechanism for the nation to achieve financial inclusion at scale.