As part of the lessons learned from the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the transition to macroprudential policy, the Bank of Israel and other central banks began collecting and maintaining itemized databases, including the Credit Data Register that contains itemized information on loans to households from all lenders. This Register was established under the Credit Data Law 5776–2016, as one of a series of measures to promote competition in Israel’s credit market, expand access to credit, and reduce discrimination in credit provision.
The Bank of Israel’s Information and Statistics Department, which is in charge of the collection, production, and accessibility of the economy’s financial statistics, manages the anonymized database that is based on the Credit Data Register. The Statistical Credit Database is used by the Bank of Israel to perform its functions.
This study describes the contents of the Statistical Credit Database, describes the data anonymization process and its diverse uses, and notes the challenges and issues that arose in the process of developing the database.