BSP to pore over credit card transactions

Local banks will have to submit more detailed reports on their credit card businesses starting this month to allow regulators to identify risks involved in the nascent but growing use of plastic money in the country.

Banks were told to submit their first set of credit card business activity reports (CCBAR), which should show a snapshot of their credit card businesses at the end of last year, on Jan. 28, 2014.

Guidelines released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also said starting February, CCBARs would have to be submitted on a quarterly basis.

The BSP said banks would have to submit a CCBAR as of the quarter ending March 2013 on Feb. 7 of this year. The CCBAR for the quarter ending June 2013 is due on Feb. 21; for September 2013, the deadline was set at March 5; and for the period ending December 2013, the deadline was set at March 19.

The rules on CCBARs, which was approved by the BSP last September, mandate that banks submit data on cardholder complaints on a monthly basis. Data on usage location of credit cards would be submitted quarterly.

The BSP said financial institutions would have to disclose the number of cards per network or brand, the types of cards issued, approved applications and the number of cards based on credit limits.

Banks were also told to disclose their total receivables, gross payments, general profiles on cardholders (based on gender, civil status and educational attainment, among others) and the type of payments.