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.
Drs. Michael Turner and Robin Varghese of PERC are sharing preliminary findings from their assessment of the credit information sharing implementation process to members of the Kenyan Bankers Association at the Nairobi Hilton. Please see the attached file for a copy of the presentation.
(New Orleans, LA) - Alyssa Stewart Lee, Executive Director of the Markets and Information Nexus (MAIN) at PERC, will present at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation's Annual Meeting and Commemorative Event: People, Policy and Progress: Investing in Sustainable Communities . This is a commemorative event to reflect on the third anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Patrick Walker from the Political and Economic Research Council and Uli Zeisluft from FairIsaac will represent the APCC at the Asian Bankers Association 25th General Meeting and Conference. For more information, please see the ABA's home page at www.aba.org.tw.
Alyssa Stewart Lee, Founding Executive Director of the Markets and Information Nexus (MAIN) at PERC will present at the Credit and Collection Symposium of the America. Ms. Lee will share results from her research on the impacts of fully reporting non-financial payment data to consumer credit bureaus. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the impacts upon credit access for Hispanic borrowers broken out by age, gender, income, and credit risk tier. Lee will demonstrate the great potential for sustainable growth in this segment possible through underwriting using non-financial payment data alone or in combination with traditional credit file data.
Dr. Michael Turner will present PERC's findings on alternative data at the 2008 World Consumer Credit Reporting Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For more information about the conference, please visit the official website.
Alyssa Stewart Lee, Executive Director of the Markets and Information Nexus at PERC will speak at the AGA Uncollectibles Workshop. She will present Doing Well by Doing Good: the Case for Fully Reporting Customer Payment Data to Consumer Reporting Agencies
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - Dr. Michael Turner presented at the 4th SEACEN/ABAC/PECC Public-Private Dialogue for the Asia Pacific Region. The theme of the conference is Basel II Implementation and the Development of Asia's Financial Systems: Experience, Challenges and Regional Cooperation . Dr. Turner, representing the Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition, will present on promoting robust credit reporting standards.
(Washington, DC) - Alyssa Stewart Lee and Patrick Walker held a press conference in the Zenger Room of the National Press Club,to begin at 9:00am. PERC will introduce its new applied study center, The Markets and Information Nexus (MAIN) with the release of You Score You Win: the Consequences of Giving Credit Where Credit is Due . This study shows that fully reporting energy utility and telephone service customer payment data to consumer reporting agencies would help up to 70 million Americans gain access to affordable mainstream sources of credit.
(Yaounde, Cameroon) - Dr. Varghese presented on alternative data in the United States and lessons for microlending at a technology forum sponsored by CGAP and CAPAF in Yaounde, Cameroon. The symposium brings together financial service providers and microlending institution across Africa in a 2 day event that focuses on new approaches to expanding financial access on the continent.
Dr. Michael Turner will attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and present on the topic “Giving Underserved Consumers Access to the Credit System: The Promise of Non-Traditional Data”. The AGM will be attended by CEOs and Compliance Officers of shareholder lending institutions and CEOs of potential member institutions such as utility companies, insurers and other credit granting institutions.
Dr. Turner will deliver the keynote presentation to senior executives from the financial services, telecommunications, energy utility, and insurance industries. The focus of his presentation will be upon how fully reporting non-financial payment data to CRIB can dramatically broaden and deepen credit access in Sri Lanka.
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