THE STATE-RUN Credit Information Corp. (CIC) has covered 18.2 million Filipinos in its credit information system so far as more financial institutions (FIs) join and submit credit data.

The CIC said in a statement on Thursday that its database now covers 80.4 contracts as of this month, but the coverage is seen expanding further with more FIs participating and submitting their borrowers’ credit data.

“This means that the CIC covers the average Filipino when it comes to credit reports—not just those who have credit cards or have loans with commercial banks, but even cooperative members and those who turn to lending and financing companies, especially during these uncertain times,” CIC President and CEO Jaime Casto Jose P. Garchitorena was quoted as saying.

Around 519 lenders have started submitting live or the actual basic credit data of their clients, CIC said.

On Aug. 19, it said there were 15 new institutions that joined, most of which were cooperatives, lending companies and rural banks.

“Cooperatives are key players in the country’s financial ecosystem especially during this pandemic where cooperatives are active front liners in terms of getting credit in areas outside the reach of traditional lending,” Mr. Garchitorena said.

“The on-boarding of credit data from cooperatives is crucial in achieving the goal of inclusivity of the credit registry — by having credit reports available to even the smallest and most distant borrowers — as envisioned by the law,” he added.

The CIC provides credit reports and other data that lenders and other institutions can access subject to fees, terms and conditions.

The CIC also recently rolled out its Primary ID Number Tagging System aiming to address the issues encountered by cooperatives and microfinance institutions on borrowers with no access to government-issued IDs.

Republic Act No. 9510 or the Credit Information System Act (CISA), mandates the CIC to set up a comprehensive and centralized credit information system that will be used to collect and distribute credit-related information of all participating entities. — B.M. Laforga

Source: BusinessWorld