MAKATI CITY, 02 October 2020 – As part of its mandate to provide standardized information on credit history and financial condition of Filipino borrowers, the Credit Information Corporation (CIC) invites the public to get a copy of their CIC Credit Report with a credit score online through CIBI Information Inc.—one of its accredited credit bureaus and special accessing entities.
CIBI recently launched the CIBIApp where individuals may register and create an account online either through their desktops or mobile phones anytime, anywhere.
CIC’s OIC President and CEO, Atty. Aileen L. Amor-Bautista, shared how this is a welcome development for the country’s central credit registry: “This mobile application by CIBI 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. If the general public cannot come to us, as a government agency, we should go to them.“
The credit report, which CIBI generates from the CIC database, will also include a credit score which can help Filipinos make informed financial decisions based on their credit history.
Surge in credit report requests here and abroad
The CIC recorded a surge in requests for credit reports from individual borrowers during the pandemic.
“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,” Atty. Amor-Bautista said.
She also elaborated how the CIBIApp can enable credit reports and scoring for overseas Filipinos and migrant workers: “This should also be seen as an enabling tool for OFWs and temporary or permanent migrants who seek credit in the countries where they have been assigned. This highlights the value of the data coming from the CIC as an internationally-recognized credit registry.”
The CIC Executive added how this will benefit the lenders: “Between having a credit investigator travel physically and make actual contact with the borrower to assess their creditworthiness claims and simply checking the CIC database to confirm the claims of the credit applicant, going the CIC route is both faster and safer.”
Personal information, character verification
Individual borrowers must download the CIBIApp via the Google Play Store or access it via their web browsers at https://cibiapp.cibi.com.ph/#/login then register and create an account. The user must schedule an appointment for online character verification via the same app from Mondays to Fridays, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
“Our users are assured that appropriate security systems are in place to ensure the security of the personal information that they enter through the CIBIapp. 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 CEO Marlo Cruz also shared.
Atty. Amor-Bautista further reiterated who are authorized to access credit information from the CIC database pursuant to R. A. No. 9510 or the Credit Information System Act (CISA). This includes CIC’s submitting and accessing entities, accredited credit bureaus, and the data subjects themselves.
Credit reports vs. credit scores
An individual’s credit report—should they have prior or current credit exposures—contains consolidated positive and negative credit data and other relevant information as submitted by the financial institutions they transact with. The report reflects basic personal information, government-issued IDs, address(es) and contact details, detailed financial contracts, and credit card(s) records, among others. If an individual has no credit exposures, the report will contain a statement reflecting the absence of such.
“Our credit bureaus like CIBI, meanwhile, use the CIC Credit Report in calculating a borrower’s credit score based on a defined ranking system,” Atty. Amor-Bautista explained.
CIBI’s PCEO, on the other hand, discussed how the credit score is computed: “Also known as myScore, the credit score provided by CIBI is generated by the leaders in credit scoring and analytics, combining both local and global expertise—that of CIBI as the first and only Filipino credit bureau since 1982, and Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), a world leader in analytics solutions since 1956.”
CIBI charges P235 for the credit report with credit score as a value-added service.
The report also contains the reason codes or the basis for the score, which ranges from 300 to 850 being the highest.
Atty. Amor-Bautista also reiterated how borrowers may update or file a dispute should they find any erroneous, incomplete, or outdated information on their credit reports: “If they find any discrepancy on their credit report, they may file a dispute through the CIC’s Online Dispute Resolution Process (ODRP). They just need to enter the Transaction Reference Number (TRN) from their credit report which should not be more than 30 days old to initiate the process.”
“We also look forward to our two accredited credit bureaus—CRIF Philippines and TransUnion Information Solutions Inc.—providing credit reports with credit scores to individual borrowers in the future,” the CIC PCEO ended.