In 2009, Experian, one of the world’s leading credit reporting agencies, approached Stark Systems with a transformative challenge: to help design and deliver a new consumer credit product for the Latin American market. The goal was ambitious—to bring the credit reporting system in line with the established practices of the United States and the United Kingdom, enabling consumers to build creditworthiness through positive credit history.

The result was Cadastro Positivo—a groundbreaking initiative that reshaped how financial institutions and consumers interact with credit across Latin America.

🎯 The Challenge

At the time, credit reporting in Latin America was largely negative-only: lenders primarily saw records of late payments, defaults, or debt collections. This limited system created barriers for millions of consumers, particularly those new to formal banking, as they had no way to demonstrate responsible financial behavior.

Experian envisioned a platform where consumers could build credit by showing on-time payments and positive financial habits, similar to credit-building models already proven effective in the U.S. and U.K.

Delivering such a system, however, required:

• Complex mainframe development and integration with multiple financial institutions.
• Large-scale data handling for millions of consumers.
• Rigorous business analysis to align requirements with both global best practices and local regulations.

🛠️ Our Approach

Stark Systems was engaged as a strategic partner, providing both Business Analysis expertise and a highly skilled COBOL development team to deliver on mainframe systems.

Over the course of two years and 16 individual projects, our teams collaborated closely with Experian to:

• Define business and technical requirements in alignment with international credit-building models.
• Develop and integrate mainframe COBOL code to handle massive volumes of consumer credit data.
• Ensure compliance with regional financial regulations and consumer data protections.
• Build seamless integration between financial institutions, Experian’s systems, and the new Cadastro Positivo framework.

📈 The Outcome

By 2011, Experian successfully launched Cadastro Positivo.

The impact was significant:

• Consumers gained the opportunity to build creditworthiness through responsible financial behavior.
• Banks and lenders received more accurate insights into credit risk, supporting fairer lending decisions.
• The credit market in Latin America began evolving toward more inclusive financial practices, enabling millions of people to access financial products they previously couldn’t.

For Stark Systems, this project showcased our ability to deliver mission-critical solutions, combining deep technical expertise with strategic business analysis in highly regulated industries.

Cadastro Positivo remains one of the most important milestones in Latin American credit history. By laying the foundation for positive credit reporting, Experian—and Stark Systems as a delivery partner—helped create a more inclusive, transparent, and growth-oriented financial system.

For Stark Systems, this was not just a project—it was a proof point of our ability to partner with global leaders and deliver transformative solutions that have a lasting impact on society.

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