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Published on February 22, 2008

The NCB plans to implement its credit-scoring system in terms of individual credit information late this year. The Credit Information Business Act has been effective since February 14 and the bill allows the agency to set up a credit-scoring system.

The system will benefit financial institutions when it comes to loan analysis, and also borrowers, who will be able to check their own credit data.

The NCB expects to take seven to eight months to complete the system before providing the service to the public. However, most financial institutions have their own credit-scoring system to analyse loan applications by customers. Therefore, the NCB's system has to be better than those of banks and non-bank lenders in order to attract them to use the service.

Apichart Nanthaterm, executive director of Aeon Thana Sinsap (Thailand), said his company was likely to purchase the NCB's new system if its credit information benefited the business. The bureau's credit-scoring system should have more information, and the data should also be more complete than the company's, he said. The information from the NCB would, therefore, enable the company to analyse customers more effectively than its existing system.

"All banks and non-banks now have their own credit-scoring systems. If the NCB's information differs from that in their systems, and provides them with advantages when considering loan approvals, we would be interested," he said. Apichart said financial institutions had earlier discussed with the NCB a central system for the country. Most of them need more complete information about borrowers - both positive and negative aspects. Aeon wants more information about customers' loan-payment behaviour.

The company will first look at its current costs compared with those involved in buying comprehensive data from the NCB.

Thawatchai Thitisakdiskul, senior executive vice president of Krungthai Card, agreed that a national credit-scoring system would be of benefit.

He said the NCB already had more complete information on borrowers than individual financial institutions, even though each has its own system. However, the non-bank lender will consider information accuracy as the first priority before making any decision on the bureau's system, while pricing will be the second priority.

Kasikornbank executive vice president Krisada Lamsam said a credit-scoring system by the NCB would benefit the financial industry. Although financial institutions have their own systems, their information is not complete without the NCB's input.

Niwat Kanjanaphoomin, chief executive officer of the NCB, said the national credit-scoring system was in the process of establishment, with completion expected in seven to eight months.

Score information will be offered for free to retail borrowers in order to allow them to check their own credit data. If financial institutions want to receive the service, they will be charged Bt6 for each customer's data.

The bureau has 52 million records of individual credit information.

Somruedi Banchongduang

The Nation