RAM Credit Info, Experian team up to roll out I-Score

KUALA LUMPUR: The success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is crucial for Asean to be truly integrated, says Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong.
“SMEs should explore opportunities from liberalisations under the Asean Economic Community (AEC) to expand trade and investment into neighbouring countries. Resilient SMEs should also start to have a global mindset,” he said at the launch of
I-Score, a credit risk management tool.
Lee said many Malaysian companies have benefited from closer Asean economic integration by expanding their operations to other Asean countries while companies from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines have been increasing their investments in Malaysia.
“What I would like to see is the participation of more SMEs,” he said, adding SMEs could use I-Score to assess the strategy for their businesses and help to address challenges faced by SMEs in obtaining credit.
I-Score is co-developed by Rating Agency Malaysia Credit Info Sdn Bhd (RAMCI) with global information services company, Experian plc.
The tool, designed for financial institutions, business corporations and consumers, provides a comprehensive credit report ranking consumers, business partners and potential investors for credit risk.
Lee said I-Score is an automated credit decision that promotes transparency and benchmarking, which would provide trust and confidence to local and foreign investors to invest in Malaysia.
He said greater credit transparency would open more doors for business partnerships and trade, especially for SMEs.
“Having a credit score for each corporate business and individual in Malaysia will take us one step further towards a developed nation,” said Lee, adding it would also help financial institutions and business corporations maximise revenue and minimise the risk of bad debts.
RAMCI director Chen Yew Nah said greater clarity in credit risk assessments would further promote AEC integration.
“AEC is the participation of a whole Asean. It’s about each of the countries being able to move forward also in their own state of sophistication in using such credit risk assessments,” she said.
Chen said in times of economic volatility, credit managers tend to get into “panic” mode and are likely to review the credit performance of customers. She said I-Score would enable credit managers to evaluate and get to know their customers better.
RAMCI general manager Dawn Lai said several top financial institutions in Malaysia have expressed interest in I-Score and are going through a validation process.
She said the introduction of I-Score is timely as RAMCI has observed a growing trend of payment defaults in recent months for trade payments as well as consumer loan payments.