The programme is designed for applicants from Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.

Minimum Academic Requirement

Applicants should normally possess:

• Completed secondary/high-school education or equivalent; OR
• GCSE/GCE O-Level or equivalent international qualification; OR
• High School Diploma or equivalent; OR
• Relevant vocational, technical or professional qualification.

Recommended Background

The programme is particularly suitable for applicants with exposure to:

• Banking
• Accounting
• Finance
• Economics
• Business
• Microfinance
• Insurance
• Credit administration
• Financial services

Mature Entry

Applicants who do not meet the standard academic requirement may be considered based on relevant professional experience in:

• Banking
• Credit
• Finance
• Accounting
• Microfinance
• Lending
• Collections
• Business administration
• Financial services

International Applicants

Applicants may be required to provide:

• Academic certificates/transcripts.
• Identification documents.
• Qualification equivalency evidence where applicable.
• Certified English translations where documents are not in English.
• Evidence of English-language proficiency where applicable.

Final admission requirements should be adapted to the accreditation and regulatory requirements of the jurisdiction where the programme is delivered.

Module 1: Principles of Credit Management

Content

• Meaning and purpose of credit
• Role of credit in banking and financial services
• Credit management lifecycle
• Types of credit institutions
• Retail credit
• SME credit
• Corporate credit
• Consumer lending
• Microfinance lending
• Secured and unsecured credit
• Revolving and term facilities
• Credit risk fundamentals
• Credit culture
• Credit policies
• Risk appetite
• Lending limits
• Credit governance

Learning Outcome

Learners understand the purpose, structure and governance of modern credit-management systems.

Module 2: Credit Application & Loan Origination

Content

• Customer acquisition
• Credit applications
• Customer onboarding
• KYC and CDD
• Loan documentation
• Purpose of borrowing
• Sources and uses of funds
• Borrower identification
• Credit information
• Credit bureau reports
• Application verification
• Loan structuring
• Facility types
• Tenor
• Interest rates
• Fees and charges
• Repayment structures

Practical Exercise

Loan Origination Simulation

Students process a loan application from:

Customer Enquiry → Application → KYC → Documentation → Preliminary Assessment

Module 3: Creditworthiness & Borrower Assessment

Content

• Character
• Capacity
• Capital
• Collateral
• Conditions
• Borrower integrity
• Management quality
• Business model
• Industry risk
• Market position
• Income stability
• Cash-flow capacity
• Existing indebtedness
• Repayment capacity
• Debt-service capacity
• Credit history
• Behavioural indicators

Practical

Students assess three fictional borrowers:

1. Individual borrower
2. SME borrower
3. Corporate borrower

They produce a Borrower Credit Assessment Report.

Module 4: Financial Statement Analysis for Credit Decisions

Content

• Statement of financial position
• Income statement
• Cash-flow statement
• Working capital
• Revenue analysis
• Profitability
• Liquidity
• Solvency
• Leverage
• Debt-service coverage
• Interest coverage
• Cash conversion cycle
• Financial ratios
• Trend analysis
• Comparative analysis
• Quality of earnings
• Financial statement red flags

Practical Exercise

Students analyse a company’s three-year financial statements and determine:

Financial Strength → Repayment Capacity → Key Risks → Credit Recommendation

Module 5: Credit Scoring, Risk Rating & Underwriting

Content

• Credit scoring fundamentals
• Credit-rating systems
• Internal risk ratings
• Risk grades
• Probability of default
• Loss given default
• Exposure at default
• Credit-risk factors
• Quantitative and qualitative assessment
• Automated underwriting
• Manual underwriting
• Model risk
• Credit overrides
• Approval thresholds
• Credit limits

Basel’s current credit-risk framework includes approaches dealing with credit-risk measurement and internal ratings-based methodologies.

Practical

Students construct a simplified credit-scoring model using borrower characteristics and financial information.

Module 6: Credit Structuring, Collateral & Security

Content

• Loan structuring
• Loan amount
• Tenor
• Pricing
• Repayment frequency
• Amortisation
• Collateral
• Guarantees
• Security documentation
• Loan-to-value
• Collateral valuation
• Insurance
• Covenants
• Conditions precedent
• Credit enhancements
• Credit-risk mitigation

Basel principles emphasise appropriate credit approval standards, documentation, collateral and other credit-risk mitigation mechanisms throughout the credit lifecycle.

Practical

Students structure a financing facility and recommend appropriate security and covenants.

Module 7: Credit Approval, Administration & Documentation

Content

• Credit approval structures
• Credit committees
• Delegated authority
• Segregation of duties
• Four-eyes principle
• Credit memoranda
• Loan agreements
• Security documentation
• Conditions precedent
• Disbursement controls
• Loan administration
• Documentation reviews
• Covenant management
• Credit-file management
• Post-disbursement controls

The EBA framework emphasises clear responsibilities, segregation and independence of functions and effective credit-risk controls throughout the credit lifecycle.

Practical

Students prepare a professional Credit Committee Paper recommending approval, decline or modification of a loan.

Module 8: Credit Monitoring & Early Warning Systems

Content

• Loan monitoring
• Repayment behaviour
• Covenant monitoring
• Account conduct
• Financial performance
• Borrower visits
• Collateral monitoring
• Early-warning indicators
• Watchlists
• Risk migration
• Loan reviews
• Portfolio monitoring
• Exception reporting
• Sector monitoring
• Macroeconomic indicators
• Stress indicators

International guidance expects credit exposures to be monitored throughout their lifecycle, including borrower condition, payment behaviour, collateral, covenants and early-warning indicators.

Practical

Students analyse a loan portfolio and identify borrowers requiring:

• Normal monitoring
• Enhanced monitoring
• Watchlist classification
• Remedial action

Module 9: Credit Risk & Portfolio Management

Content

• Individual credit risk
• Portfolio credit risk
• Concentration risk
• Sector concentration
• Geographic concentration
• Counterparty risk
• Country risk
• Transfer risk
• Large exposures
• Related-party exposures
• Credit limits
• Portfolio diversification
• Risk appetite
• Credit-risk reporting
• Stress testing
• Scenario analysis

Basel’s credit-risk principles require institutions to manage credit risk across individual transactions and the overall portfolio, including concentrations and changing market and macroeconomic conditions.

Practical

Credit Portfolio Management Simulation

Learners analyse a portfolio and recommend changes to:

• Sector limits
• Customer limits
• Geographic exposure
• Risk concentrations
• Portfolio quality

Module 10: Non-Performing Loans, Collections & Recovery

Content

• Loan arrears
• Delinquency
• Default
• Non-performing exposures
• Collections
• Early intervention
• Restructuring
• Rescheduling
• Refinancing
• Forbearance
• Recovery strategies
• Collateral realisation
• Debt settlement
• Legal recovery
• Write-offs
• Recoveries
• Problem-loan management

Practical Exercise

Problem Loan Case

Students develop a recovery strategy for a borrower whose business has experienced declining revenues and missed repayments.

They must determine:

Early Intervention → Restructuring → Recovery → Escalation

Module 11: Expected Credit Loss, Provisioning & Credit Reporting

Content

• Credit-loss concepts
• Expected Credit Loss (ECL)
• Probability of Default
• Loss Given Default
• Exposure at Default
• Lifetime vs 12-month expected losses
• Credit-risk staging concepts
• Loan-loss provisions
• Impairment
• Credit-quality deterioration
• Regulatory reporting
• Credit-risk disclosures
• IFRS 9 concepts
• Comparison with U.S. CECL concepts

The EBA’s guidance on credit-risk management and expected credit losses is linked to the implementation of IFRS 9 and builds on Basel guidance.

Practical

Students complete a simplified ECL calculation using a fictional loan portfolio.

Module 12: Digital Credit, Credit Analytics & Capstone

Content

• Digital lending
• Automated credit assessment
• Alternative data
• Credit analytics
• Machine learning in credit
• AI-assisted underwriting
• Digital credit scoring
• Open banking data
• Credit-bureau information
• Model governance
• Algorithmic bias
• Data privacy
• Cybersecurity
• Responsible digital lending
• FinTech credit
• Future of credit management

Capstone Project

Students complete an integrated Credit Management Case Study covering the entire credit lifecycle.

Each learner or team receives a complete fictional borrower/portfolio file.

Stage 1 — Borrower Assessment

Analyse the borrower’s:

• Character
• Business
• Income
• Financial position
• Existing obligations
• Credit history

Stage 2 — Financial Analysis

Calculate:

• Liquidity ratios
• Leverage ratios
• Profitability ratios
• Debt-service capacity
• Cash-flow indicators

Stage 3 — Credit Risk Assessment

Identify:

• Credit risks
• Industry risks
• Management risks
• Collateral risks
• Concentration risks

Stage 4 — Facility Structuring

Recommend:

• Facility type
• Amount
• Tenor
• Pricing
• Repayment structure
• Security
• Covenants

Stage 5 — Credit Committee

Prepare and present a Credit Approval Memorandum.

Stage 6 — Monitoring

Develop:

• Early-warning indicators
• Monitoring frequency
• Covenant requirements
• Portfolio-review procedures

Stage 7 — Problem Loan

Develop a remedial strategy if the borrower defaults.

This capstone ensures that graduates can apply credit-management knowledge rather than simply recall credit theory.

This qualification is internationally benchmarked,

The current Basel credit-risk principles explicitly organise effective credit-risk management around four areas: credit-risk environment, sound credit-granting process, credit administration/measurement/monitoring, and adequate controls.

Credit management is fundamentally a decision-making discipline, so IBSF should use a strongly practical methodology.

Recommended Learning Model

Practical Learning Activities

Learners undertake:

• Credit application analysis
• Financial statement analysis
• Credit scoring exercises
• Credit-risk rating
• Loan structuring
• Collateral assessment
• Credit committee simulations
• Loan portfolio analysis
• Early-warning analysis
• Problem-loan management
• Recovery strategy development
• ECL calculations
• Digital credit assessments

Assessment Framework

Competency-Based Assessment

Learners should demonstrate that they can:

• Analyse a borrower’s financial position.
• Assess creditworthiness.
• Interpret credit-bureau information.
• Apply credit-scoring principles.
• Prepare a credit appraisal.
• Structure a loan facility.
• Evaluate collateral.
• Recommend appropriate credit limits.
• Prepare a credit committee paper.
• Monitor a loan portfolio.
• Identify early-warning indicators.
• Classify problem loans.
• Develop recovery strategies.
• Calculate basic expected credit losses.
• Identify portfolio concentration risks.

The programme prepares graduates for entry-level and junior professional positions in credit, lending and risk management.

Credit & Lending

• Credit Officer
• Credit Analyst
• Credit Administration Officer
• Loan Officer
• Lending Officer
• Credit Processing Officer
• Credit Assessment Assistant
• Credit Underwriting Assistant
• Credit Monitoring Officer

Banking

• Banking Operations Officer
• Corporate Banking Assistant
• SME Banking Officer
• Retail Credit Officer
• Relationship Banking Assistant
• Branch Credit Officer

Credit Risk

• Credit Risk Assistant
• Credit Risk Analyst
• Portfolio Risk Assistant
• Credit Monitoring Analyst
• Risk Administration Officer

Collections & Recovery

• Collections Officer
• Loan Recovery Officer
• Remedial Management Assistant
• Debt Recovery Officer
• NPL Management Assistant

Microfinance & FinTech

• Microfinance Credit Officer
• Digital Credit Officer
• Digital Lending Analyst
• FinTech Credit Operations Officer
• Credit Scoring Assistant

Graduates may pursue opportunities in:

Banking

• Commercial banks
• Retail banks
• Corporate banks
• Development banks
• Islamic banks
• Digital banks
• Central and reserve banks — relevant support/risk functions

Financial Services

• Microfinance institutions
• SACCOs and credit unions
• FinTech companies
• Digital lenders
• Credit providers
• Leasing companies
• Development finance institutions

Credit & Risk Organisations

• Credit bureaux
• Credit-rating organisations
• Debt-collection companies
• Asset-management companies
• Financial advisory firms
• Risk-management consultancies

The qualification develops transferable credit-management competencies applicable across different banking and financial systems. The programme’s international value comes from its emphasis on globally recognised credit-risk principles, lending practices, financial analysis and portfolio management.

IBSF INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATE IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT

Duration: 6 Months | 2 Semesters | 3 Months Each

The qualification develops transferable credit-management competencies applicable across different banking and financial systems. The programme’s international value comes from its emphasis on globally recognised credit-risk principles, lending practices, financial analysis and portfolio management.