MAKATI CITY, 18 March 2020 – Credit Information Corporation (CIC)—the country’s central credit registry and repository of credit information—assured its accredited credit bureaus and accessing financial institutions that the CIC services would still be available nationwide despite the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
The CIC made the assurance in response to concerns from its users that the services may be suspended due to the current global pandemic.
“Their access to the CIC database remains available 24/7 and will not be disrupted,” CIC President and CEO Jaime Casto Jose Garchitorena stated.
Accessing entities refer to any submitting entity— institutions with credit facilities such as banks, quasi-banks, trust entities, investment houses, financing companies, cooperatives, nongovernmental and micro-financing organizations, credit card and insurance companies, and government lending institutions mandated to submit basic credit data of their borrowers to the CIC database—or any other entity authorized to access basic credit data from the CIC pursuant to Republic Act No. 9510 or the Credit Information System Act (CISA).
In line with its mandate under CISA and its commitment to the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act implemented by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the CIC uses technology whenever it can to support online transactions and minimize face-to-face interactions.
“Following the directives from the Office of the President and the Civil Service Commission, the CIC activated its business continuity plan to ensure the unhampered delivery of services to its primary clients despite a work-from-home arrangement among its employees,” Garchitorena emphasized.
Continuity, safety and security
All groups of the CIC—Business Development and Communications (BDC), Credit Information Management System (CIMS), and Finance and Administration Group (FAG)—implemented their respective plans to guarantee business continuity while ensuring the safety of everyone amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, in-house technical trainings and walk-in client services have been suspended following the implementation of social distancing measures.
“The CIC has become such a critical part of its clients’ operations but we cannot afford to take the risk and expose our staff. It was a tough choice but the health and well-being of our staff and clients come first,” Garchitorena added.
To manage this, the CIC is working with its accredited credit bureaus to create online facilities for its face-to-face frontline service in providing CIC Credit Reports.
“As to providing services remotely, because we are handling critical and sensitive personal data, we are implementing the appropriate security measures that support the work-from-home arrangement while retaining the security and integrity of the system during the enhanced community quarantine,” the PCEO explained.
Since the CIC opened its registration for access in July 2019, there has been an increasing number of requests from financial institutions to become accessing entities of the country’s credit registry. By the first quarter of 2020, the CIC has been experiencing a constant growth of transaction attributable to its growing coverage and depth of credit data available in its system.
As of 11 February 2020, the CIC database contains 9.9 million unique individuals and 82,000 companies/proprietors, with 64.9 million contract data—45 million of which are installment transactions, 19.3 million are credit cards, and 661,000 are non-installment.
“This is why security remains our topmost priority,” Garchitorena ended.
This press release has been picked up by BusinessMirror and was published both online and in print on 23 March 2020.