Cebu bankers strengthen monitoring of borrowers

CEBU, Philippines - The local network of bankers in Metro Cebu is strengthening its monitoring program to easily spot delinquent borrowers or blacklisted clients through the Automatic Credit Information System (ACIS) of the Cebu Bankers Club (CBC).

In an interview with CBC former president Prudencio Gesta, he said that the organization is going to enhance the capability of the ACIS system that will add more listings of blacklisted borrowers from each bank member, in order to protect the banking business from delinquent borrowers.

Although the rate of non-performing loans (NPL) in the local scene has been declining significantly, after hitting its highest during the 1997 regional economic crisis, Gesta said there is still a dire need for the banking system to strengthen its monitoring program to spot clients that have mishandled their accounts in their respective banks.

Aside from the local network of member banks, the exchange of credit blacklisting is not only limited in Metro Cebu, as the ACIS system is also connected with the national information exchange through the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP).

“We are trying to improve the monitoring technology through the ACIS. We have to protect the credibility of the banking industry, as well as the individual banking business,” Gesta said.

CBC will be managing the system. In fact, it has created a committee that will solely look into the implementation of the enhanced ACIS tool, so that all member banks can easily access the listing of questionable borrowers of clients.

The improvement of ACIS technology is one of the priorities of the CBC this year, including its active stance on strengthening the security issue of each bank members, on the light of rampant bank robberies.

While the banking sector has remained very strong amid the global recession, Gesta said it has to continuously protect its business from being victimized by clients who have bad credit histories in other banking institutions.

This means that unlike the pre-1997 period that banking credit availability was so laxed, this time, although the economy is already on its recovery road, Gesta said the banking sector remains prudent, and very strict in terms of providing credit to customers.

“We learned a lot from the 1997 crisis. The reason why the banking sector in the Philippines remained strong amid the global recession, because we have put everything in place to protect the system from being crippled again,” Gesta said.

ACIS or the facility that allows banks to exchange information on list of delinquent borrowers

was initiated by CBC about nine years ago. This time, Gesta said CBC had decided to enhance the technology that will also include other applications related to client monitoring and background check.

However, Gesta noted that over the years, the number of delinquent borrowers has declined significantly, as traders as well as banking clients are also now cautious in availing loans from the bank, and also becoming very conscious in protecting their credibility to their banking partners.

“Unlike in the pre-1997 times, where there were a lot of risk-takers or gamblers. Now, borrowers are also become more conservative,” he concluded.