Central Bank sells entire stake in CIBIL to TransUnion

State-run Central Bank of India has sold its entire stake in Credit Information Bureau of India Limited (CIBIL) to TransUnion International Inc for an undisclosed amount.

The sale by Central Bank comes after another state-run lender on Wednesday announce the sale of its 5 per cent stake to TransUnion International Inc.

"Central Bank of India has informed BSE that after due approval, Central Bank of India has sold its entire stake in (CIBIL) to TransUnion International Inc," it said in a BSE filing.

CIBIL provides credit information by collecting and maintaining records of an individual's payments of loans and credit cards. These records are submitted to CIBIL by banks and other lenders on a monthly basis.

While these inputs help lenders to create credit information reports (CIR) and credit scores for evaluating and approving loan applications, the state-run banks do not seem to have benefited much from the association with CIBIL.

Central Bank had a 5 per cent stake in CIBIL, while TransUnion is the majority shareholder in CIBIL with 27.5 per cent stake.

With the acquisition of stakes held by Punjab National Bank and Central Bank getting regulatory approvals, TransUnion's stake in CIBIL will go up to 37.5 per cent.

The financial details of both the transactions were not disclosed.

Other shareholders of CIBIL include Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Union Bank, Citicorp Finance (India), HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and HDFC Ltd, each holding 5 per cent stake in CIBIL.

State Bank of India and ICICI Bank carry 10 per cent each, while rest of 2.5 per cent is with Sundaram Finance Ltd.

State-run banks saddled with the cost of financing the huge non-performing assets on their books, have started selling their stake in CIBIL in a bid to cut down expenditure.