Mr. Jezreel Pimentel of China Banking Corporation, an engineer and appraiser, is the current President of Credit Management Association of the Philippines, Inc. (CMAP). In an interview, he answered questions related to CMAP and credit management.
What were the problems that led to the formation of CMAP?
CMAP started with credit men meeting regularly to talk about their work in credit management. In 1932, they registered it as a non-stock non-profit as Association of Credit Men. From a few companies, CMAP has now 400+ members.
The usual transaction for lending is company to company or company to individuals. Persons-incharge of credit billings need to background check these clients, and they do that by asking information from each other. Emails are not yet available during that time, and people communicate through telephone. The credit men met every week to share information on their clients to prevent fraud and to know the clients who have good credit reputations. Before the credit score is determined manually. Nowadays, there’s a system used to determine it automatically.
Is CMAP the only institution who does this?
No, there are others that maintain databases as well, but these databases are different from CMAP. Examples include CIC and CIBI, but what is unique in CMAP is that the credit information comes from the members themselves. CMAP has an edge because many companies can share information. CMAP is the only credit bureau that handles court cases, which has been dropped by BAP because of the Data Privacy Act. Bank companies are coming back to CMAP because of this.
Why is CMAP important?
Creditors are protected from fraud because of CMAP. Companies and clients are also reminded of their credit scores. CMAP will always be relevant as long as lending is present in transactions, unless the government requires that they be the only institution that can handle credit information. CMAP is a tool to evaluate clients as CMAP is the only institution that has a very diverse database from all industries that involve credit (banks, insurance, etc.) With CMAP, the lender has a 360° view about a client, unlike other bureaus that only have limited types of information.
How did you get involved with CMAP?
Sir Jez is a Civil Engineer and was frequently asked why he is in a bank. He went abroad before and he was asked by his mom to stay in the Philippines. He tried applying for a bank as a civil engineer but what the bank needed was an Appraiser. He decided to pursue it because he needed work and was planning to resign months after, but because he enjoyed the work including the benefits he stayed in the industry and received many trainings in credit management. He eventually became an officer and a department head. As Head of Credit Investigation in Chinabank, he was automatically the representative to join CMAP. He was nominated to be a Board of Director and eventually became the President of the association.
What are the Board’s plans for the year?
The board were assigned different committees, but the focus of their projects as a team involves financial management, data gathering, and enhancing the database by introducing technology to the current system. They are also enhancing office management as there are no standards set yet. Ironically many of the members do not pay their dues, Pres Jez laughs at the fact. However, members may not be able to pay on time because they are not being reminded to pay. Thus, Sir Jez said that the process must be enhanced so that the members can pay on time. Funds are also being raised and accumulate to obtain a new office by the end of the year. His board, including the Vice President Juancho Magpantay was able to raise funds from the regular 5M to 30M in a span of 2-3 years by effective and prudent financial management.
What is this new technology that will be applied to the database?
DATABOX – It is a secondary method to access the iCMAP database. The CMAP member institution will be installed with the databox so that they can subscribe to the database and get updated from the central box. The access will be faster because the data is downloaded to the company premises; thus, the bandwidth is not affected because the connection is local.
Before, the charging for iCMAP access is on a per name basis. In the databox, access is unlimited; users and inquiries per day are at a fixed rate. Users can save money using the databox. In the coming years, it will be improved, especially in the making of the database. Each member can create sub-databases categorized according to industry (e.g. real estate sharing with other real estate companies). Hopefully next year it will be deployed. Sir Jez said that it was his longtime dream, and it is now becoming a reality because of the board and past boards. This is the case even though they are not payed for the service they contribute to CMAP.
What is your message to CMAP members?
Be active and get involved in all activities. To access and also contribute information and database. Hopefully, with the enhancement of the system, CMAP can encourage members to upload information. (As of now, they need to send the information to CMAP, and CMAP will upload the information.)