MAKATI CITY, 27 July 2020 – Credit Information Corporation (CIC), the state-run public credit registry and central repository of Filipinos’ credit information, recently issued the list of 21 additional financial institutions submitting live basic credit data of their borrowers to the CIC database, bringing the total number of submitting entities pursuant to the Credit Information System Act (CISA) to 504.
“These 504 submitting entities represent 13.4 million unique Filipino individuals and 87,000 companies/proprietors, with 79.2 million contract data. This makes the CIC database contain the freshest and most diverse set of credit data contributors in the country today. Statistically, it has the potential to provide a more detailed profile of the Filipino as a credit-seeking entity and we look forward to working with other government agencies to help craft policies that are credit and credit behavior-specific for the benefit of both borrower and lender,” CIC President and CEO Jaime Casto Jose P. Garchitorena said.
Committed to expand the availability of credit data beyond banks and credit cards, recent entrants into the diverse list are multi-purpose cooperatives: Cebu People’s, CENECO Employees, Countryside Builders, Kooperatiba ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan (KOOPNAMAN), Polomolok, Seafarers', and the Moog-Baguio Credit Cooperative. Cooperative banks include Mindanao Consolidated and Network Consolidated, while rural banks consist of Frontier Rural Bank, Inc., Marayo Bank, Inc. (A Rural Bank), Misamis Bank, Inc. (A Rural Bank), Rural Bank of Leganes (Iloilo), Inc., and Zambales Rural Bank, Inc.
Rounding out the list are lending companies and banks such as Accutrust Lending Corporation, Advantage Lending Corporation, Camfin Lending Inc., Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd., First Metro Investment Corporation (FMIC), and Metro-Cebu Public Savings Bank.
Beneficial Life Insurance Company Inc. also made it to the list, responding to the recent call of the CIC—through Letter-Circular No. 2020-03—for insurance companies and mutual benefit associations to submit credit data and reportable transactions to the CIC database on a monthly basis.
Growing interest to access CIC database
The CIC PCEO further cited that the steady increase in the number of submitting entities also signals a growing appreciation for the value of a shared credit database to promote financial inclusion and risk-based lending, especially at a time when the economy is trying to get back on its feet: “This is also evidenced by the increase in number of those expressing intent to become an accessing entity of the CIC.”
Only upon submission of at least six months’ worth of credit data can the submitting entities in production register as an accessing entity of the CIC, giving them the opportunity to use the database in their credit-decisioning activities.
“Existing databases consist merely of either negative databases, demographic and behavioral databases, or industry-specific credit databases. The onboarding of these submitting entities will further build up the already growing CIC database and make it even more diverse and comprehensive, and therefore more useful in reviewing and assessing the credit history and financial condition of Filipino borrowers, especially during this unprecedented period,” he explained.
Senior Vice President for Business Development and Communications, Atty. Aileen Amor-Bautista, also elaborated how COVID-19 changed the credit landscape: “The challenges brought about by the pandemic are not just from a risk management perspective, but from the very basic issues of how to actually get, apply for, assess, and deliver credit to the borrowers at a time when travel and other physical activities are restricted.”
The SVP continued: “The CIC is not only hitting its stride in its data collection activities at the right time, but is also coming into the market at the right price point: P10 per credit report inquiry for its accessing entities.”
Supporting economic recovery during, post-COVID-19
The CIC PCEO also explained how the CIC database will support the national government and its instrumentalities in the realization of its financial and developmental goals: “The impacts of COVID-19 is expected to be felt further into the future, but immediate responses to the expected credit issues will be very critical on how this will play out. The data we have should serve as basis for the restructuring of loans to avoid massive financial failures of businesses and individual borrowers, both during and post-recovery period of the economy.”
The additional submitting entities in production are listed in CIC Letter-Circular No. 2020-04, while the complete list of 504 financial institutions are published on the CIC website.
Financial institutions not in the list are still in the registration, testing, and validation phases, while others are working on their compliance requirements.
This press release has been picked up BusinessMirror.