CIC, PLDT join forces on financial inclusion

MANILA, Philippines - State-run Credit Information Corp. (CIC) has collaborated with the digital innovations arm of PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. for online lending platform Lendr as part of the government’s efforts to push financial inclusion in the Philippines.

PLDT’s Voyager Innovations has signed a collaboration agreement with CIC-accredited bureaus including CIBI Information Inc., CRIF Philippines, Compuscan Philippines, and TransUnion Information Solutions.

Lendr is essentially a digital loans platform, a mobile and online service by FINTQ to connect those who are interested in availing of a loan with potential lenders. 

With the use of the Lendr, potential borrowers can apply anytime and anywhere, conveniently, using a safe and secure internet connection. The Lendr also allows borrowers to monitor their own portfolio of loans accessed through the Lendr platform.

The collaboration is a formal recognition of the capability of the four bureaus, using their exclusive bureau level access to the CIC database, to provide credit scores for all Filipinos and enable online inclusive lending.

CIC CEO Jaime Garchitorena said the collaboration would strengthen Lendr as a digital lending platform with the availability of credit scores from the accredited credit bureaus.

As to the potential of non-traditional or first-time borrowers to generate the credit score needed by banks subscribed to the Lendr platform, the exclusive access to the CIC database would be able to find enough data points to fairly score potential borrowers.

Voyager and FINTQ chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said lending is a business based on risk and managing that risk, so both borrower and lender are protected. 

“This is true more so for banks that have responsibilities to their depositors for the money they lend. However, with the power of the data submitted to the CIC that can be accessed through their accredited credit bureaus, the risks can be managed to the point where banks can begin to lend more, with less risk, at less cost, in less time,” Pangilinan said.

FINTQ managing director Lito Villanueva said Lendr is fully supporting CIC’s mandate to effectively implement Republic Act 9510 or the Credit Information Systems Act.

“Lendr will only onboard banks and other financial institutions which are compliant to the CIC. Both CIC and Voyager agree that lending institutions that will not comply with submission to the CIC are more likely to engage in risky lending, putting the borrower, lender, and ultimately the Lendr platform users, at risk,” he added.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved the availability of Lendr in the market of a shared electronic loan origination system for its supervised financial institutions under a community cloud deployment model.