State-run Credit Information Corp. encouraged potential borrowers to check their credit scores on its mobile application to size up their prospects of obtaining credit during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
CIC said the recently-launched CIBIApp, developed by credit bureau CIBI Information, Inc., provides credit histories and an identity verification process.
"This mobile application will help our individual borrowers access their own credit information through their mobile devices. The main innovation here is that we can do online identity verification to help secure the process, especially during this time of restricted travel and social distancing," CIC President and Chief Executive Officer Aileen L. Amor-Bautista said in a statement Friday.
CIBIApp stores credit data submitted by various lenders to CIC.
Ms. Bautista said requests for credit reports from individual borrowers have surged during the public healt emergency, which has also damaged the economy.
"This is most probably due to the increase in application for loans and other financial services as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Whether in the Philippines or abroad, Filipinos are beginning to see the value of the CIC as a cost-effective way of monitoring their payments and credit standing," she said.
CIC said in an e-mail that the latest data on the volume of requests for credit reports has yet to be released as some of its operations remain limited due to the quarantine.
Credit scores range between 300 and the high score of 850.
CIC currently keeps credit data on 18.2 million borrowers and expects coverage to expand with more financial companies participating and submitting credit data.
CIBI said the application contains security features that prevent data theft.
"We likewise assure them that our character verification process, done on a video call format through the MeetMe feature of the app, will be robust so that they will be the only one to see the contents of their credit reports," CIBI President and Chief Executive Officer Marlo Cruz said in a statement. — Kathryn Kristina T. Jose
Source: BusinessWorld