Malaysian credit reporting agency CTOS taps Fico technology

By Digital News Asia December 1, 2014

Fico Scores allow lenders to tailor credit product offerings to risk profile of individuals
Partnership to change lending landscape, enables all consumers to have a credit score

Malaysian credit reporting agency CTOS taps Fico technology

NEW York Stock Exchange-listed predictive analytics and decision management software company Fico said that the largest private credit reporting agency in Malaysia, CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd, will offer Fico Scores to all its clients beginning early 2015.

The CTOS-Fico Consumer Credit Score will be developed based on the San Jose, California-based company’s scoring modelling technology. The scoring model for CTOS is created by analysing the information found in CTOS’ comprehensive credit information database, Fico said in a statement.

“The Fico Score is used across the world in more than 25 countries and we are sure that Malaysian lenders will benefit from this partnership,” said CTOS chief executive officer Eric Chin.

“We believe that by working with Fico … we will further cement our position as the No 1 credit bureau in Malaysia,” he added.

Chin said Fico was chosen because of its proven track record, and it was a brand and company that Malaysian lenders were familiar with.

“Fico has been working with the Malaysian financial services industry for more than 20 years. We knew that Fico’s vast experience in developing, rolling out and driving market adoption of bureau scores in different markets would be a boon to developing the market in Malaysia,” he said.

Fico Scores play a critical role in billions of decisions each year for measuring credit risk in the banking, mortgage, credit card, auto, and retail industries, the US company said.

Lenders can use Fico Scores to more confidently tailor their credit product offerings to the risk profile of individual consumers. In this way, lenders can safely increase their market share, reduce their risk exposure, and improve their profits, the company claimed.

“Fico has been used by many organisations across the world to aid not only individual lenders but also their customers,” said Dan McConaghy, president for Fico in Asia Pacific.

“We expect that we will have the same transformative effect in Malaysia, especially as we are working with the largest private credit reporting agency in the country,” he added.

Established in 1990, CTOS is widely used by Malaysia’s banking and financial institutions, insurance companies, large corporations, legal firms, businesses, state bodies, and local council bodies.

“The partnership with CTOS will help change the lending landscape in Malaysia as it will enable all consumers in the country to have a credit score,” said Leong Mun Tong, senior director of Scores in Asia Pacific for Fico.

“This will help Malaysian lenders assess credit risk more efficiently and possibly offer credit to a new group of customers. Using our innovative, multi-faceted modelling approach to scoring, Malaysian lenders will now have greater efficiency throughout the entire consumer credit lifecycle, from marketing and originations to collections,” he added.