BSP, JICA launch web-based SME credit scoring platform

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have rolled out a new web-based credit scoring system designed to help banks and other lenders better evaluate the creditworthiness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

- By KEISHA TA-ASAN

The Credit Risk Database Philippines (CRDPh) System upgrades the existing stand-alone scoring tool into an automated online platform. It forms part of the second phase of the BSP-JICA Credit Risk Database project started in 2020.

The initiative aims to address information gaps that often make it harder for SMEs to secure loans, while helping financial institutions improve risk-based lending, loan pricing, and reduce reliance on collateral.

In a memorandum to banks and other BSP-supervised entities, the central bank said the CRDPh System is an automated platform designed to streamline the secured submission and processing of data and retrieval of CRD outputs. The system was developed to shift the stand-alone CRD scoring tool into a web-based platform.