Borrowers’ credit score now accessible

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino borrowers can now obtain a copy of credit data and other relevant information in the country’s central credit registry and repository of credit information, the Credit Information Corp. (CIC) said.

CIC president and chief executive officer Jaime Casto Garchitorena said it is important to make the CIC Credit Report accessible to the general public regardless of location.

“Rest assured that we are working on achieving this without sacrificing the security of credit data. In the works is an online Know Your Client application that will allow the general public to get their CIC credit reports and credit scores online,”Garchitorena said.

An individual’s CIC 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 deal with.

The report reflects basic personal information, government-issued IDs, address and contact details, detailed financial contracts and credit card records, among others.

If an individual has no credit exposures, the report will contain a statement reflecting the absence of such.

In aligning with the government’s aim to conveniently deliver services to the general public, the CIC has implemented the first phase of accessing their credit reports by allowing interested individuals to book an appointment online through the CIC Online Appointment Scheduler.

While the appointments are created online, personal appearance at the CIC office in Makati City is still required to get the CIC Credit Report in order to ensure the security of the borrower’s data.

“We are dealing with sensitive personal information, and validating the identity of a requestor is of utmost importance to avoid identity theft and other privacy concerns,” Garchitorena said.

 Aside from ease of access to an individual’s Credit Report, the CIC has also developed an Online Dispute Resolution Process (ODRP) in recognition of the borrower’s rights to dispute any incorrect/inaccurate information on the CIC Credit Report.

In order to assure that disputes received have a factual basis, a dispute must be based on a CIC Credit Report no more than 30 days old.

While still in its early stages, the online initiatives of the CIC from online submission of credit data by CIC-covered entities, to the soon to be available online access to credit reports and credit scoring from CIC-accredited credit bureaus or Special Accessing Entities and the implementation of the ODRP—are designed to deliver CIC services to the general public in compliance with the ease of doing business principles.