The Creditinfo Chronicle
Reynir has a new Christmas jumper
“Best wishes and seasons greetings to you and your families!“
Reynir
Everyday Cybercrime
Athlyn Evans, Head of IT, Creditinfo Malta today delivered a presentation for the Creditinfo Academy on “Everyday Cybercrime”.
Athlyn spoke about why cybersecurity is such a big issue, why the stakes are so high and the answers so difficult.
You can view his presentation here: Cybersecurity – Athlyn Evans
You can watch his presentation video here: Vimeo
And read the script from his webinar here: security talk
Athlyn’s bio
Athlyn has a first class degree in Computer Sciences and Electrical Engineering and a Master Degree in Information Systems. He has worked in IT for 25 years. For many years, he was a freelance IT Consultant who specialised in IT and Data Security. He worked for the UK Ministry of Defence and BAE systems and was responsible for perimeter line security for encrypted communications between defence and government departments, this included areas of conflict. He also worked in the Airline industry to improve security post 911. His last security position was working in the digital film industry in the UK and Hollywood, LA ensuring digital security and digital fingerprinting for large data warehouses used in CGI production.
Editors note: He is also a passionate Welshman and motorbiker. You can even find him listed in the credits of the movie Arthur Christmas for working on CGI technical infrastructure supporting Aardman Animation technical infrastructure. http://www.sonypictures.com/animation/pdfs/arthurchristmas_credits.pdf
How Lithuanians show their proud of high ratings
Certificates “Strongest in Lithuania” became a strong proof of confidence in Lithuanian companies. Some of them are so proud that they are able to get these certificates several years in a row that puts them altogether showing continuity of creditworthiness.
We believe that for the company from one of the biggest cities our certificates is more than a proof of trustworth or marketing. It‘s an emotion, proudness and a wish to show that to everybody: from local staff to VIP clients. We are very happy how many opportunities our clients have using the certificate.
Paul's off to Tanzania to deliver training
Paul Randall and one of the CIS team will be flying out to deliver training to some of Tanzania’s potential clients. This is a great way for the clients to network and share best practice whilst also being an informative session and for us, it’s a great opportunity to promote what we do best and how we can help them do things better. During the 4 x 50 minutes sessions, we’ll be telling them about the benefits of a Credit Bureau, the data landscape in their country, going into detail about scoring and also automation. If this is of interest, give Paul a call!
On the hunt in Cape Verde
We’ve sent Kristinn “Kiddi” Agnarsson out on a mission to find new office space in Cape Verde and to find some new recruits .
Any takers for relocation?
Players of the Month: Tanzania and Malta
You always remember your first!
November saw the team in Tanzania sell their first International Report. Well done, to Andrew Carter, Dave Kahwa, Edwin Urasa,Shane Moldenhauer & Pamela Uriyo, the first of many we’re sure!
Teamwork pays off
Congratulations to Remy Damato, Melissa Pace & Antonio Di Bari, for already breaking all records regarding the creation of D&B reports. Even with another month to go, they are already 10% up on last year in not only the number of reports but also on the total revenue. This is big indication on the quality and speed in which these reports are delivered by the team. There has to be something said for their teamwork as they also won the bridge building contest at the last Values Seminar in Malta.
From the photo, we’d advise them not to swap their day jobs for construction!
The impact of financial literacy on companies and personal finances and how it impacts on the economy
Breki Karlsson, CEO and Founder of The Institute of Financial Literacy. Today we were very pleased to welcome Breki to joins us at the Creditinfo Academy. Breki delivered a webinar on “the impact of financial literacy on companies & personal finances and how this impacts on the economy”.
Breki has wide ranging experience with management, innovation, strategic planning, research, training & setting up businesses. He holds a M.Sc. Economics & International Business from Copenhagen Business School and a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Reykjavik. Having carried research on financial literacy, he has held countless lectures & seminars worldwide since 2005.
The Institute’s aims are to equip the general public with the right tools and education to better manage their finances to ensure financial stability in their lives & their families.
More info: www.fe.is
You can view his presentation here: Breki Karlsson fe-is
You can watch Breki’s presentation video here: Vimeo
Contact Breki via:
Email: breki@fe.is
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=5259268
Growing a mo!
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of millions of moustaches around the world. With their “Mo’s” men raise vital funds and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer and mental health.
A team of the guys at SOLUTIONS CZ got into the spirit of Movember by growing a range of impressive moustaches.
At the end of the month, the ladies of the Czech office voted and David Urban became the resolute winner. For his great efforts, David won a session at the local Barber Shop.
However, second place was undecided, as Milan Krupicka and Radek Bittner drew in the number of votes, but in the deciding round, Radek won over Milan 3:2. Jitka Burkoňová lead the way in helping the guys raise money for the charity and LindaTomanová assisted in arranging the vote.
“There are a few of these that have definite porn star look-a-like potential, maybe I should lend them my leather pants to complete the look!” A.H.
Conference in Tanzania
Reynir Grétarsson and Dave Kahwa (Creditinfo Tanzania) participated in a conference in Maputo, Mozambique, at the end of October. The conference was organized by the German Development-cooperation Agency (GIZ) and participants were, in addition to locals, from various African countries such as Uganda, Namibia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia, and Ghana. Two other credit bureaus were offered to participate. Continue reading »
Players of the month: Hákon Stefánsson and IBCH Ukraine
Individual Player – Hákon Stefánsson
As such, our very own Beckham look alike, Hákon Stefánsson was on prime time TV in Iceland – you can watch the clip athttp://www.ruv.is/neytendamal/betri-vextir-fyrir-betri-pappira(starts at 14:48mins to 21mins). You’ll see he looks particular relaxed in front of the camera, so we expect the call from SKY SPORTS to do a stand in for David will come soon.
Team Players – IBCH Ukraine
Jón Jóhannesson and the team in Ukraine have had an excellent month with more than an 80% increase in Sales and a massive 247% increase in EBITDA. If you still don’t know what EBITDA is, it’s how much profit a company makes with its present assets and its operations on the products it produces and sells.
Creditinfo Lithuania celebrated 3Q results at sport courts
Creditinfo Lithuania continued tradition to grow it‘s muscles on the sport courts as third quarter revenues achieved goals.
This time employees were able choose from basketball, dodgeball and badminton sports.
Most valuable player (MVP) award in basketball went to IT administrator Tomas Mičiulis‘ hands. Sales manager Vytautas Pociūnas appeared the best in dodgeball. While his coleague Andrius Vitkauskas showed his strenght at badminton. Congratulations to them and all other participants!
Credit as a profit centre
Mark Harrison, CEO of Association of Credit Central & Eastern Europe today delivered a presentation to the Creditinfo Academy on “credit as a profit centre”.
Mark discussed the credit process from the order, invoice, through to collection and cash matching.
View Mark’s presentation here: Mark ACCEE
View Mark’s presentation video here: Vimeo
More info: www.creditcee.eu
Follow them on twitter at twitter.com/CZCredit and
Contact Mark direct via
Email: Mark@creditcee.eu
Tel: +420 722 965 050
Linked In: cz.linkedin.com/pub/mark-harrison/8/512/4b8
Azerbaijan update and more in the pipeline
The final selection of the winner has not been made yet as the Executive Committee would like to clarify a few issues relating to the hardware of each organisation. As such, we’ve been invited to Baku to deliver a special presentation of the proposed hardware. We’ll let you know how we get on!
In the Pipeline
The pipeline for Credit Bureau projects for next year is really building up and to name just a few countries where we are involved in a bid pending decision: Iraq, Algeria, Comoros Island and Jordan. CIS will have their hands more than full if all these deals go through!
Complementing Traditional Sources with Alternative Data
Joining the Creditinfo Academy was Mr. Sean Albert, Senior Vice President at Microbilt Corporation. Today, Sean gave a presentation on “complementing traditional sources with alternative data.” He also gave a demonstration of the Microbilt systems.
Sean has over 20 years of experience in executive management, including product design, business development and marketing. Sean’s current global directions include PRBC (Payment Reporting Builds Credit), an alternative credit bureau that services credit worthy consumers who have limited or no traditional scores and the business that want to access them. He also manages IBV (Instant Bank Verification) a real -time financial verification tool and is a member of MicroBilt’s Executive Management Team, which guides the company’s vision, employee objectives, and progress.
He is often a guest speaker at conferences and workshops having delivered a similar presentation at the Creditinfo Global Forum – Sept. 2013, Prague. He formerly served as Chief Business Development Officer for Battalion Capital, a private energy fund and the brokerage firm, Liquidity Energy. Prior to these companies, he managed the venture capital and private equity firm of WH Holdings as Vice President, where he oversaw multiple acquisitions and financing transactions. Mr. Albert was also the CEO of Icon Design Group, an award winning marketing firm, CFO & President for G&G Properties and worked in advertising for NBC Universal. Sean graduated from Colorado State University. He is involved with multiple local and national charities and is the President of the HLA Foundation. He resides in Princeton, New Jersey with his family.
About MicroBilt Corporation
MicroBilt Corporation, is the single source and preferred provider of decision critical information that responsibly assists businesses in reducing risk and managing their business. MicroBilt provides online access to consumer and commercial credit bureau data with automated decisioning and collection services. With its PRBC® Consumer Report with the FICO® Expansion Score, MicroBilt is the leading provider of alternative credit data to businesses that want to offer credit and other financial services to the approximately 110 million underserved and underbanked consumers in the United States. MicroBilt offers the small business owner simple, cost-effective solutions and a wide selection of data products for fraud prevention, consumer financing, debt collection, and background screening at www.MicroBilt.com or through web services integration.
MicroBilt is also the leader in proprietary financial data with its Integra Data which offers industry benchmarks, norms, valuation data, risk management tools, and other private company financial data that help companies get the answers they need when they need them. The company enables businesses to enhance their content offerings by delivering private labeled content or web sites to their established online communities. MicroBilt Corporation maintains offices in Georgia and New Jersey. Please read more at www.microbilt.com
You can contact Sean via:
Email: Sean_Albert@microbilt.com
You can watch Sean’s video here: Vimeo
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/seanmalbert
One of the reasons we're in business!
A bit of bed time reading……although it’s over 300 pages long, we recommend you take a look at the report published by the World Bank, Doing Business.
Check out the Getting Credit category – it supports the reason we’re in business!
