Painful experiences in handling bad debts and poor credit management in the past led to the setting up of a Credit Bureau to share credit information about clients. The Credit Bureau Act became effective in March 2003. The Act aims to enhance information sharing among financial institutions in order to improve loan analysis and credit risk management. Simultaneously,the Act protects the owners' right regarding the accuracy and disclosure of their information. At first,two licenses were granted to operate the credit information business,namely,to the Thai Credit Bureau and the Central Credit Information Services. In August 2004,the two entities merged and became National Credit Bureau Co.,Ltd.