AS part of their commitment to comply with Republic Act 9510 or the Credit Information System Act (CISA), co-operatives based in Cebu—including the Cebu CFI Community Cooperative—and those from other nearby locations underwent a technical training for submitting entities of the Credit Information Corp., the CIC said in a statement issued last February 14.
In response, the government-owned and-controlled corporation CIC spearheaded the workshop to provide hands-on training for the cooperatives and assist them with the technical requirements for submission and compliance.
Department Manager for Credit Information Management System (CIMS) Ma. Bernadette Bautista led the technical workshop and discussed the ease of submission to the CIC.
“Submission to the CIC only requires a spreadsheet, an internet connection, and some freeware. The system was designed for small and big lenders alike,” Bautista said. “This assures an equal level of participation no matter how big or small they are.”
CIC President and CEO Jaime Casto Jose P. Garchitorena expressed his gratitude to the participating cooperatives for reaching out to the agency.
“The old idea was that small cooperatives would have no use of the CIC, with nay-sayers claiming that credit report and risk-based lending were only for ‘sophisticated’ banks,” Garchitorena said. “In fact, some of the CIC’s most enthusiastic supporters are small lenders because the risk of lending to known bad borrowers poses a great risk to their sustainability.”
To date, 40 percent of the financial institutions submitting live credit data of borrowers to the CIC database are cooperatives that are often designated as conduits of funding, especially to the underserved and unserved markets.
Under the law, submitting entities refer to any entity that provides credit facilities. Broadly covered under this definition are lending institutions regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission, including cooperatives and micro-financing institutions.
Garchitorena also emphasized that “the cooperatives’ inclusion in submission data will fuel economic progress. Through using the credit reports of existing and potential borrowers, bad debt is reduced and more cooperative funds are made available to new borrowers.”
He added that the cooperatives’ compliance with the Cisa is a significant step towards improving the access to credit of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The CIC likewise lauded the support of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), especially with the issuance of its Memorandum Circular 2019-01 enjoining lending cooperatives to submit factual basic credit data of all their borrowers to the CIC.
“Having the full support of the CDA—being the cooperatives’ regulatory agency—is crucial in inculcating a truly inclusive lending environment,” Garchitorena ended.
