In extreme cases, lack of adequate information causes markets to fail completely; a phenomenon which has been analysed extensively by economists such as Josepth Stiglitz and George Akerlof, who were awarded Nobel prizes for their work. Access to credit information on prospective borrowers enables lenders to better evaluate the creditworthiness of the borrowers.
This reduces the information costs of lending and hence should allow more credit to be made available at lower interest rates. Better credit information can reduce the extent of credit rationing which is a serious problem in financial markets. Because credit information helps credit markets to function more smoothly, thereby generating social benefits, such information has some of the characteristics of a public good.