Research and Applications
PERC is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding Information Solutions for Development Challenges worldwide. Going beyond the standard think tank model of solely carrying out research and producing reports, our staff develops real-world applications and works with policy makers at all levels to bring about the change we seek.
Find out more: About PERC
Serving the Missing Middle
PERC's mission is to serve the Missing Middle, the almost 4 billion people above the global poverty line who do not have access to affordable mainstream credit, by utilizing a new type of economic development: information-led development.
Find out more: Information-Led Development, Who are the missing middle?
Overcoming the Catch-22
Up to 70 million Americans are excluded from the financial mainstream because of the Credit Catch-22: you need to have a history of debt to get credit. PERC's Alternative Data Initiative has already helped many Americans overcome this Catch-22 and access affordable mainstream credit.
Find out more: Alternative Data Initiative
Smart Disaster Recovery
PERC has developed metrics for the Louisiana Recovery Agency and the World Bank to track small business recovery from natural disasters.
Find out more: Gulf Coast Economic Renewal
Donate to PERC
You can help support PERC's mission of global asset building by donating via Paypal. PERC is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the state of North Carolina. All donations are tax deductible.
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- » Financial services infrastructure is radically under-developed in many countries, constraining growth in private sector lending and macro-economic growth as a consequence.
- » Many countries – developing and emerging economies alike – lack credit reporting systems, making access to credit difficult or impossible for the vast majority.
- » The two primary means by which individuals worldwide create wealth are homeownership and small business ownership. For most, this requires credit. Without sound credit reporting, most will remain imprisoned by poverty.
- » Many millions in emerging economies live in remote locations with no access to mainstream lenders.
- » Subjective and arbitrary standards, anticompetitive practices, and security concerns impede the rollout of financial services infrastructure.
- » Bring together parties with harmony of interest in development of financial services infrastructure.
- » Institutionalize relationships in context of goal oriented coalition.
- » Work with key international organizations –including the IFC, World Bank, and CGAP– to promote sound credit reporting practices to facilitate “information led development”.
- » Identify and partner with private sector actors and IOs on development of risk modeling solutions to bypass traditional lenders and extend credit to those in remote locations.
- » Identify and partner with private sector actors and IOs on development of risk modeling solutions for those needing credit but who cannot be served by micro-lenders or by banks and who have too little information to access credit by any means.
ILD Year 1 (Jan. 2004 – Dec. 2004)
- » Released “How Safe and Secure Is It?” assessing privacy in outsourcing firms in India.
- » Hosted conference on Capitol Hill on offshore outsourcing.
- » Presented at World Credit Reporting Conference in Beijing.
ILD Year 2 (Jan. 2005 – Dec. 2005)
- » Extensive outreach in Australia and New Zealand, led to Parliamentary inquiry in Australia.
- » Outreach on credit reporting reform in Japan.
ILD Year 3 (Jan. 2006 – Dec. 2006)
- » Released “On the Impact of Credit Payment Reporting on the Financial Sector and Overall Economic Performance in Japan”.
- » Extensive outreach in Japan, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago.
- » Presented at Global Credit Reporting conference in Cape Town.
- » Extensive outreach in Brazil, China, and Singapore.
ILD Year 4 (Jan. 2008 – Dec. 2008)
- » Co-hosted experts conference on credit reporting in China with Peking University in Beijing.
- » Formed Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition (APCC) to promote regional credit reporting standards.
- » Analyzed commercial credit reporting in South Africa for National Credit Regulator, suggesting means to increase credit access for black- and female-owned businesses.
M-banking and mobile telephony underwriting:
Traditional microfinance institutions (MFIs) generally do not extend loans to individuals, but rather to groups. Traditional banks have long looked with envy at the portfolio performance and returns of MFIs. These banks now seek to enter the micro-credit market, believing that their greater wherewithal and technical savvy will permit entry and give them an advantage. Meanwhile, MFIs have begun lending to individuals in an effort to look more like traditional banks. Both banks and MFIs are either exclusively relying on data (in the case of banks) or increasingly relying on data (in the case of MFIs). Neither has the total picture. Banks intend to use non-financial payment data (alternative data) and MFIs are relying only on house file data. PERC believes that both will fail without more complete data. Our solution involves the use of transactional data from mobile telephones combined with mobile phone payment data (top-offs) and call log information as a proxy for strength of social networks. If successful, this will substantially broaden and deepen credit access and enable MFIs and banks to lend to individuals and entrepreneurs (MSMEs) with greater accuracy and confidence.
Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition
APCC is a PERC-managed coalition committed to promoting a regional standard for full-file, comprehensive consumer credit reporting to private credit bureaus within the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies. Please visit PERC's coalition for credit standards in the APEC region, the Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition
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Alternative Data InitiativeInformation-Led DevelopmentGulf Coast Economic RenewalEconomic Development Metrics
