LOCAL credit bureau CIBI Information Inc. (CIBI) has teamed up with a Singapore-based big data company to expand its credit reporting business and help boost financial inclusion in the country.

CIBI President and CEO of CIBI Information Inc. Marlo R. Cruz said in a statement on Monday that the company has partnered with ADVANCE.AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) and big data firm in Singapore that will share its AI and risk management solutions, as well as its identity verification and anti-fraud products, with CIBI’s existing database. 

Mr. Cruz said the partnership will help the company expand the coverage and depth of its credit reporting and information services in the Philippines.

“CIBI’s local market expertise together with ADVANCE.AI’s technology leadership and solutions will help innovate the digital onboarding, risk, and credit underwriting capabilities of the Philippines’ fintech sector. This is more important than ever in the current COVID landscape, as we help accelerate fintech development in the Philippines, and in so doing, help millions of Filipinos and businesses gain access to new financial products and services,” Dong Shou, CEO at ADVANCE.AI said in the same statement.

ADVANCE.AI has helped fast-track the digitalization of financial services of businesses in the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and India.

It provides digital identity verification for know-your-customer (KYC), intelligent process automation, chatbots through IA; anti-fraud prevention, alternative credit scoring for risk management; and several digital lending solutions.

CIBI was established in 1982 as an attached agency to the central bank but was privatized in 1997 to serve as a credit reporting body that collects and manages data and provides analytics services on the credit information of individuals, businesses, and other institutions.

Its core products include the credit information score report, which gives a detailed summary and scoring of businesses’ and individuals’ borrowing and repayment activities.

Banks and other lending institutions use these data to assess the creditworthiness of a borrower, which could help them decide whether to lend to the person or not. — B.M. Laforga