TransUnion Botswana announces the launch of three new intelligence solutions designed to help financial institutions make smarter lending decisions, strengthen risk management and responsibly expand access to credit. Supported by an enhanced dataset that provides a richer view of consumer payment behaviour, the new solutions will help lenders unlock greater economic participation while supporting sustainable growth across Botswana's financial sector.

Following the recent licensing process, TransUnion is continuing to invest in Botswana's financial ecosystem through enhanced data capabilities, advanced analytics and new solutions designed to support lenders and consumers alike.

"The launch of these three new solutions represents an important investment in Botswana's financial future," says Kabelo Ramaselwana, chief executive officer, TransUnion Botswana. "Financial institutions need deeper insights and stronger analytics to support responsible growth. By combining richer data with advanced intelligence solutions, we are helping lenders make better decisions, expand access to credit and support greater economic opportunity."

New Intelligence Solutions for a New Credit Environment

TransUnion is introducing three new capabilities designed to help Botswana's financial institutions grow responsibly, improve decision-making and unlock new opportunities.

• Industry Scores use sector-specific predictive models to help lenders assess thin-file and credit-invisible consumers with greater confidence.
• Collections Solutions enable smarter, data-driven collections strategies that improve recoveries while reducing operational costs.
• Business Intelligence Reports provide market and portfolio benchmarking insights, helping organisations understand performance, identify growth opportunities and make more informed strategic decisions.

Together, these three solutions equip organisations with the intelligence needed to expand access to credit, strengthen risk management and drive sustainable growth.

Enhanced Data for Better Lending Decisions

These solutions are underpinned by an enhanced dataset that brings together broader payment and credit information to provide a more complete view of consumer payment behaviour and credit obligations. By reducing fragmented views of borrowers, financial institutions can make more informed decisions across the credit lifecycle, from origination and portfolio management to collections.

For lenders, access to richer information means decisions can increasingly be based on a broader understanding of borrower behaviour, helping institutions identify opportunities while maintaining sound risk management practices.

Unlocking Access to Credit and Economic Growth

Botswana's financial sector is entering a period of significant transition. While the country remains one of Africa's most financially included markets, lenders face increasing pressure to balance growth, affordability and risk amid changing consumer credit profiles, rising living costs and broader economic pressures.

At the same time, significant opportunities remain to broaden access to credit. Although around 72% of adults have access to a bank account or mobile money service, a large share of the population remains outside the formal credit system. As a result, lenders often struggle to assess creditworthiness using traditional risk models, limiting borrowing opportunities for consumers and small businesses.

TransUnion analysis indicates that richer data and enhanced scoring models could increase loan approvals by 4% to 6% annually while maintaining credit quality, potentially unlocking up to P5 billion in additional lending across the market. Enhanced collection capabilities have also demonstrated a 38% increase in visibility and a 40% improvement in collections yield, helping institutions strengthen portfolio performance and support sustainable economic growth.

Supporting Consumer and Business Growth

The opportunity extends beyond personal credit. Botswana's MSME sector employs approximately 175,000 people and generates an estimated P14 billion in annual turnover, yet many businesses continue to rely on manual record-keeping, making it more difficult to demonstrate creditworthiness and access finance. Enhanced commercial credit information and business analytics can help financial institutions better assess these businesses and support their growth through improved access to funding.

As financial institutions navigate an increasingly complex environment, access to deeper market intelligence is becoming increasingly important. TransUnion's Business Intelligence capabilities are designed to help organisations understand portfolio performance trends, monitor market developments and identify emerging opportunities, enabling more informed strategic decision-making.

Investing in Botswana Financial Future

TransUnion remains committed to supporting Botswana's evolving financial sector through ongoing investment in data, analytics and innovation. By combining global capabilities with local market expertise, the company aims to help lenders serve consumers and businesses more effectively while supporting broader economic growth.

"Growth and risk discipline are no longer opposing objectives," says Ramaselwana. "More complete information allows institutions to identify and serve the right consumers and businesses with greater confidence. That is good for lenders, good for consumers and ultimately good for Botswana's economy."

Chad Reimers, the Senior Director for TransUnion Africa, said that the company was stepping up its efforts to position itself as an information company that is solving bigger problems associated with financial inclusion.

“What we are trying to do here is to solve big problems. As a credit reference company, we have a number of credit solutions we can bring to this [Rwandan] market where we have been operating for the past five years,” Reimers told guests at the evening cocktail meeting.

He revealed that the insurance industry has been extraordinarily part of TransUnion’s operations globally, highlighting that there are a number of sector.

TransUnion is Rwanda’s credit reference bureau that works with financial institutions, insurance companies and retailers to provide insights into their respective consumers’ credit health. It has been operating in Rwanda since 2010.

According to Reimers, TransUnion’s client base in Rwanda has been growing overtime. At the moment, the global company is working with 14 banks, 14 insurance companies, and all micro-finance institutions and SACCOs.

“Really what we find here (in Rwanda) is a friendly environment, and we want to make the best out of it. That is why we want to interact with our clients and know exactly what they need from us, so that we can design partnership strategies that benefit them,” he noted.

Reimers added that with the rise of non-performing loans (NPLs) in many African countries, there is need for companies like TransUnion to devise ways to help some of the struggling financial institutions in the region.

“The reason why NPLs are going up is because we don’t necessarily assess the risk when we acquire the customer, and we are not managing the risk through that whole cycle. But we have very many ways we can help players in the finance area,” he said.

The firm currently has presence in more than 30 emerging markets in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as in other developed markets across Europe, United States of America and Asia.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company’s consolidated financial statement for 2017 indicates that revenue from emerging markets accounted for approximately 65 per cent of their international revenue.

According to Lee Naik, the Chief Executive Officer of TransUnion Africa, the company is moving to align its operations with technological trends through developing solutions that enhance the understanding of consumer behaviors.

“When we think of where the organisations are going, they are becoming intrinsically digital. This means the way we used to work traditionally will have to change. What we do as TransUnion is focusing on enabling things that allow us transact via mobile like mobile loan scorecard,” he said.

Naik added that they have deployed tools that enable them to use big data available in the digital world to start understand consumers and citizens better, so that they can enable the decisioning around credit.

By Julius Bizimungu