Credit reporting agency CTOS has made its consumer credit score report available via phone apps. Your ‘credit-bility’ is now in the public realm, with the agency saying this may encourage people to be more aware and to take charge of their credit health. MEK ZHIN reports.

Malaysian credit reporting agency CTOS has made its credit score report available to the public and kicked off the launch of their service.

It‘s offering the first 100,000 MyCTOS Score Reports worth RM25 each for free.

The report contain comprehensive details on identity verification, business exposure, credit repayment behaviour, legal actions, case status and bankruptcy information for the past 24 months.

The move is part of CTOS Data Systems’ ‘What’s Your CTOS Score?’ initiative, which is an education campaign targeted at all consumers at every life stage to enable better credit management and health.

CTOS chief executive officer Eric Chin says the move is a step towards empowering consumers to manage their own credit worthiness.

“More often than not, personal financial health is a low priority for most Malaysians. This is mainly due to a lack of awareness and understanding of it. There’s also a lack of effective tools to measure credit health or worthiness,” he explains.

According to Chin, the move by CTOS can be seen as an industry milestone as it moves towards a move consumer-centric financial lending landscape.

The CTOS Score is presented in the form of a three-digit number ranging between 300 to 850, with a higher score indicating lower credit risk.

Among the benefits of a good credit score are increased chances of getting a loan, speedier loan approvals, more available credit and fairer credit decisions.

The score is calculated based on the publicly accessible Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS) report from Bank Negara Malaysia, as well as its own database containing information such as loan payment history, credit facilities and amount owed, credit history length, credit mix and new credit.

CTOS had launched its credit score earlier this year, but it was only available to its subscriber base, banks, telco companies, legal firms and companies.

“Launching it to the public was always in the plan,” he stresses.

“In the months following our credit score launch, we went through a sort of testing period with our clients. Now, we are better able to advise consumers on their credit scores based on the ‘testing’ we did,” Chin says.

He assures that consumers need not worry too much about a bad credit score as the score is dynamic and changes as new pertinent information is obtained.

“We want to focus on creating awareness and educating people on their options and eventually towards taking charge of their own credit health and managing it. It is a time-consuming process which should start now,” he states.

Chin also says consumers can seek advice or help with understanding their credit score better at any of the seven CTOS branches nationwide.

As of May 2016, Malaysia’s household debt stood at RM1.03tril or 89.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and is among the highest in Asia, though Bank Negara has said that this is still within the manageable limit.

The most popular credit facilities accessed by Malaysians include car loans (40%), home loans (21%), personal loans (19%), credit card loans (15%) and student loans (4%).

Many young Malaysians are in an unhealthy debt cycle due to ineffective credit management and reliance on high-cost borrowing methods, including personal loans and credit cards, according to a CTOS statement.

In conjunction with the campaign launch, CTOS also introduced its first strategic partner, Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd, which will be offering competitive deals for those with a good CTOS credit score on their MyCTOS Score Report.