The banking industry too has experienced consolidation, as the number of insured commercial banks declined from about 11,450 in 1992 (with total assets of $ trillion) to about 7,960 in June of this year (with total assets of $ trillion).
Globally, Credit Information Bureaus have, therefore, been set up to function as a repository of credit information - both current and historical data on existing and potential borrowers. The database maintained by these institutions can be accessed by the lending institutions.