THE Credit Information Corp. urges financial institutions covered under the Republic Act (RA) 9510, or the Credit Information System (CIS) Act of 2008, to participate in its direct-to-consumer (D2C) through the accessing entity (AE) program to protect borrowers from identity theft and fraud. By doing so, the CIC said, would allow further access to finance by micro-sized, small-scale and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
The D2C program enables AEs—financial institutions authorized by the CIC to access borrowers’ credit information from its database—to issue CIC Credit Reports to requesting individuals, according to the government owned and controlled corporation (GOCC).
“Getting your Credit Report serves as your credit health check,” CIC president and CEO Ben Joshua A. Baltazar was quoted in a statement as saying. “This allows borrowers to assess their overall credit profile and check if there is identity theft or fraud affecting their accounts. This is especially important now, that opportunistic scammers and bad actors take advantage of the shift to digital payments and online transactions.”
Baltazar emphasized that while accessing the CIC credit database is not mandated by law, the participation of financial institutions in mainstreaming the use of CIC Credit Reports is crucial. He added that leveraging credit information by both lenders and borrowers redound to the stability and sustainability of the Philippine financial ecosystem.
With the issuance of CIC Credit Reports via the D2C through the AE program, AEs, by default, are authorized to issue CIC Credit Reports to requesting data subjects in compliance with CIC Circular 2023-03 and other relevant rules promulgated by the GOCC. While the CIC Credit Report costs only P30 per inquiry at retail, AEs may adjust their service fee to defray associated administrative costs.
According to Baltazar, AEs may use the D2C program “to reconnect and build rapport with their clients, to promote products and services that better fit client needs.”
“Habituation of the use of the CIC Credit Report, especially to new-to-credit individuals and microentrepreneurs, inculcates them to responsible financial management and nurtures them as they start building their credit history,” he added. “This helps all Filipinos to achieve their personal financial and business aspirations.”
Baltazar underscored how borrowers can use CIC Credit Reports as reputational collateral. This is particularly beneficial to small businesses and startups with no physical collateral, to facilitate access to larger loan amounts and more affordable interest rates—solely through showing they are creditworthy, he said.
“As the country’s public credit registry, the CIC continues to promote financial inclusion of borrowers and MSMEs through access to much-needed credit and financial services,” Baltazar said. “We do this by encouraging data-driven credit-decisioning and risk-based lending in the credit ecosystem, and pushing for greater financial literacy among Filipino borrowers.”
Becoming an AE of the CIC, all registered submitting entities of the CIC may register as an AE provided that they maintain their regular and timely credit data submission under CISA and other guidelines established by the corporation, read the statement the GOCC issued on December 7.