NEW MOBILE APP LAUNCHED TO MARK 10 YEARS OF ‘SIMAH’
9th World Consumer Credit Reporting Conference Opens
Dubai, UAE, 20 October 2014: The Saudi Credit Bureau (SIMAH) has launched a new mobile smartphone and tablet app today to mark its decade anniversary, as the 9th World Consumer Credit Reporting Conference (WCCRC) opens its doors in Dubai for the first time.
With smartphones increasingly becoming an integral part of modern life, the new mobile service from SIMAH is the first of its kind in the region and will provide a faster, more secure and intuitive, easier to use application filled with several new location-based features.
The app, which has the unique ability to trace credit updated reports, notifications and all new inquires, was showcased to hundreds of delegates in the Dubai Grand Hyatt Hotel, where the 9th WCCRC is taking place until Tuesday 21 October.
Nabil Al-Mubarak, CEO of SIMAH said: “Raising public awareness about SIMAH is very important to us and we have carried out many educational initiatives and awareness campaigns directly targeting the consumers.
“The SIMAHMobile App is just another way for us to connect with our members and provide a reliable service which can collect, exchange and protect credit information. During the last two years, SIMAH has sent more than 10 million educational and awareness SMS messages and reaching out to people via electronic devices is definitely the way forward for the future.
“Ten years ago, SIMAH was a dream with only a few people looking after it, and like any innovative idea, we started from zero. Today, SIMAH provides its services to almost all sectors in the Saudi market from banking, government, telecom, insurance, manpower, utilities and leasing sectors and being chosen to host the 9th WCCRC is the perfect indication of how far we have come in the global credit reporting industry.”
In line with SIMAHs mobile app, Manish Jain, General Manager (India) Analytics & Decision Science Business, TransUnion and Felipe Valdes, Co-founder and CEO of Tiaxa, will be addressing delegates on the second day of the conference about the new distribution channels for credit reporting products.
With lenders moving to mobile-based banking products in order to reach more consumers, Jain and Valdes will highlight the different opportunities there are for credit bureaus to service these proposed new channels of distribution.
H.E. Dr Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, Director General and Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, who officially inaugurated the 9th WCCRC, opened the conference with his keynote speech on the short-term outlook for the world economy and its impact on credit and credit reporting.
Fourteen other professionals offered their expert advice on the opening day of the conference, which saw senior executives from more than 300 credit bureaus, credit card firms and lenders as well as government officials come together from more than 60 countries to address the latest developments in the credit reporting industry.
Organised by Saudi Credit Bureau (SIMAH), the Association of Consumer Credit Information Suppliers (ACCIS) and the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), the two-day summit will discuss a number of topics, including the growth of the credit bureau in the GCC region, the US and the EU data reporting standards and the latest trends in fraud and tools being used to prevent fraud and identity theft.
The conference is supported by Al–Etihad Credit Bureau, Qatar Credit Bureau, Benefit Company and sponsored by Qarar, Veda@SIMAH, CRIF, MicroBilt Corporation, AJIL Financial Services Company, MasterCard, CallCredit, FICO, the Joint Credit Information Centre, TransUnion and official airline Emirates Airways. More information can be found at www.wccrc2014.com