Alternative Credit Scoring of Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

MSMEs account for more than 98% of the business establishments in Hong Kong and employ about 46% of the workforce in the private sector. Yet many face significant challenges in securing a bank loan due to their lack of financial information and the significant burden faced by banks in conducting credit assessments and monitoring related processes.

The paper by ASTRI lays out the technological components needed to handle and process the alternative data used in alternative credit scoring. Further, it proposes building an effective alternative credit scoring ecosystem for banks and providers of alternative data in Hong Kong that can handle data management, credit assessment automation, and monitoring. It also suggests steps that need to be taken by the players in the ecosystem to support this proposal.