A loan request is also an information problem A small business may have genuine orders and a workable operation while struggling to present its activity in a form a lender can assess. Banks and financial-service providers in BRICS markets can create value by improving the quality and timeliness of that evidence. The opportunity is not to replace prudent underwriting with a larger quantity of data. It is to connect reliable transactions, cash flows and obligations so that a decision can be made more efficiently and explained clearly. In remarks on Project Cargox, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority described exploring cargo data to improve trade-finance processes and SME access. BIS-hosted Project Cargox remarks. This is an example of a data initiative, not proof that a particular borrower…