McCann FitzGerald has created a legal technology app to support businesses that provide credit in complying with their obligations under the Credit Reporting Act.

The new app enables lenders to assess whether their business comes within the scope of the Credit Reporting Act, to identify where there are gaps in their compliance, and to determine whether a particular transaction is within the scope of the Act or not.

Any person who provides  loans, deferred payments or any other form of financial accommodation, is required to submit information to the Central Credit Register maintained by the Central Bank, and from the end of next September, details of credit provided to non-consumer borrowers must also be submitted.

The law firm believes its app will appeal to regulated lenders such as banks, credit unions, moneylenders and retail credit firms, and also to non-regulated lenders such as funds, SME and real estate financing companies. 

State entities such as NAMA, local authorities and other state providers should also find it useful, the law firm says, as well as companies which lend to a director or employee or an external company. Individuals lending to a company or a club, association, partnership, charity or other body could also be in the market.

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Partner Josh Hogan (pictured) said: “Businesses which provide credit are facing a major compliance challenge. Now that the scope of the Credit Reporting Act is about to be expanded to non-consumer borrowers, there is an urgent need to educate a wider business audience on the applicability of the Act so that businesses don’t breach their reporting obligations.

“The scope of the Act is not limited to regulated lenders. Any company or individual who provides credit potentially falls within its scope, even where lending is not the person’s core business. Directors, employee and shareholder loans are examples of where the Act can potentially apply, even though those arrangements are peripheral to a company’s main business.

Hogan added that the app, available to purchase, simplifies the process for lenders in terms of their understanding of how they should approach the Act, as well as being a usable tool for regular compliance audits and ongoing transaction-by-transaction checks.