ASIA United Bank Corp. (AUB) aims to accelerate processing of loans and other financial products by becoming an accessing entity in the country’s central credit registry.
In a statement on Monday, the Credit Information Corp. (CIC) said that the listed bank has recently onboarded with the central credit information repository.
AUB is now authorized to access borrowers’ credit reports through CIC’s database, CIBI Information Inc., CRIF D-B Philippines Inc. and Transunion Information Solutions Inc.
“Being an accessing entity of the CIC means that we have ready access to comprehensive credit reports which will then expedite the process of granting loans and other financial services to our wide range of consumers including SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and even corporations,” AUB First Vice President Ma. Magdalena V. Surtida said. “This is a testament to our commitment to fully understand and anticipate our clients’ needs.”
Aileen L. Amor-Bautista, Senior Vice President for Business Development and Communications of CIC, said AUB is a “significant addition” to the agency’s growing list of accessing entities.
These include major universal and commercial banks, savings and loan associations, rural banks, cooperatives, thrift banks and government lending institutions.
Amor-Bautista said this “attests to the usability of the CIC database which contains the credit history of almost 23 million Filipino borrowers with more than 80 million contract data.”
She added that the borrowers are the ultimate beneficiaries of having a credit repository because financial institutions will have access to credit reports when assessing loans.
Apart from AUB, other recently onboarded accessing entities are Cooperative Bank of Quezon Province, Philippine Star Development Bank, Kviku Lending Co. Ltd., Rural Bank of Central Pangasinan and The Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd.
“We are glad that these financial institutions are complying with the requirements for accessing entities; they are recognizing the value of the credit registry, and they are seeing an actual solutions partner in CIC,” Amor-Bautista said.
In the first nine months of 2020, AUB’s net earnings were flat at P3.8 billion despite operating income rising by 25 percent to P11.5 billion due to robust core businesses. The bank’s bottom-line figures were tempered by the four-fold increase in credit loss provisions amounting to P3 billion for the period.
AUB’s borrowings portfolio improved by 4 percent to P165.4 billion in January to September of 2020 from P158.6 billion in the comparable period in 2019. Nonperforming loans (NPL) ratio stood at 2.2 percent while NPL coverage was at 96.3 percent.
As of end-September 2020, the bank has total assets of P290.1 billion.
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