CIC wants telco clients’ credit data

State-run Credit Information Corp. (CIC) has ordered telecommunications firms to submit subscribers’ basic credit data by yearend in order to come up with a centralized and comprehensive credit information system in the country.

“The CIC has determined that telecommunications companies are within the purview of the law (Republic Act No. 9510) whose data is relevant for determination of creditworthiness and in making credit decisions,” CIC president Jaime Casto Jose P. Garchitorena said in a June 3 circular.

Garchitorena said telcos must submit by Dec. 31 so-called subject and contract data.

The said data refers to telco subscribers’ “data elements, relevant contract details, all and payment behaviors generated by a telecommunications company subscriber in connection with the availment of products and/or services” from a telco company, Garchiterona explained.

The telcos must submit accurate, complete and correct current data, which covers all active as well as existing subject and contract data of customers or subscribers as of the required deadline of submission.

Meanwhile, historical data also covering inactive customers and subscribers must also be submitted on March 31 next year (for data covering Jan. 1, 2014 until Dec. 31 last year) and June 30, 2017 (data from Jan. 1, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2013).

Moving forward, they must completely and regularly update subscribers’ subject and contract data no later than the fifth day of every month, according to Garchitorena.

Under RA 9510 or the Credit Information System Act, the CIC serves as a central credit registry, “collecting positive and negative credit data on borrowers and providing consolidated basic credit information to individuals, businesses, financial institutions, private credit bureaus, and other entities afforded the right to access the same,” the agency said on its website.

As of mid-2015, only about 25 million records covering about 40 percent of the total population of borrowers in the country were available, Garchitorena earlier said.

Last March, Garchitorena disclosed that six credit bureaus or special accessing entities (SAEs) had already been accredited, namely: Credit Information Bureau Inc. (CIBI), Compuscan, CreditBureau Singapore, CRIF, Dun and Bradstreet South Asia Middle East, and TransUnion. Of the six, CIBI is the lone local firm.

Under the law, credit bureaus or SAEs are defined as “duly accredited private corporations engaged primarily in the business of providing credit reports, ratings and other similar credit information products and services.”

According to the CIC, credit bureaus are “deemed essential to the proposed credit information ecosystem as they create innovative value-added products and services, such as credit scoring and analytics.” Credit scoring or rating determines borrowers’ creditworthiness.

Operations of these credit bureaus would start by end-2016 or early 2017, Garchitorena had said.