When you apply for a loan or seek any kind of credit from financial institutions, you will hear the words CTOS and CCRIS thrown at you.

These are credit reporting agencies that verify your financial characteristics to the lenders.

If you have a glowing CTOS or CCRIS report, you may get a loan with a competitive interest rate.

On the other hand, a poor report from these agencies may be a challenge for you to get your desired loans. So, if you are not familiar with the terms, get to know them here.

It will help you understand what will warrant a good report and how you can work towards improving it for future loans and credit applications.

What is CCRIS?

Central Credit Reference Information or more commonly known as CCRIS is controlled by the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s Credit Bureau. They collect information on all borrowers associated with participating financial institutions.

A CCRIS report consists of all your credit information for the past 12 months, both good and bad and compiles them in an organised way to give an overview of your credit management pattern.

People often get misguided thinking that if they have a poor repayment record, they will get blacklisted from CCRIS, but that is not the case!

The report strictly provides factual results based on the data collected to give a complete picture of your financial behaviour.

Who can apply for CCRIS reports in Malaysia?

CCRIS is available for any type of borrowers including:

• Individuals
• Financial institutions
• Businesses
• Professional bodies, associations and societies
• Government bodies

What type of information does CCRIS provide?

CCRIS credit report defines a borrower’s financial behaviour in three main aspects:

• Outstanding Credit: The report highlights any outstanding borrower credit. This would include all personal and business credit information, or if the borrower is part of any corporation or a member of a body.
• Special Attention Accounts: This part highlights the credit facilities of the borrower that is closely monitored by the participating financial institutions of BNM.
• Credit Application: The report will also highlight any approved or pending credit application the borrower has made in the past 12 months.

How can I apply for a CCRIS credit report?

• Bring your IC and relevant supporting documents to BNM or The Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK).
• Get a one-time six-digit pin code from the CCRIS kiosk.
• Login to the eCCRIS portal to get your credit report for free.

What is CTOS?

While CCRIS is controlled by the central bank of Malaysia, CTOS is a private credit reporting company.

As one of the top credit reporting agencies (CRA) under the CRA Act 2010, CTOS also provides your credit profile to participating financial institutions to help them understand your borrowing behaviour.

Similar to CCRIS, a CTOS report is also applicable for all types of borrowers including individuals, businesses, or other financial parties.

How does CTOS collect data?

CTOS uses credible sources to produce their reports called the MyCTOS Basic Report and the more advanced MyCTOS Score Report. It includes:

• National Registration Department
• Registrar of Societies
• Malaysia Insolvency Department
• Companies Commission Malaysia (CCM)
• Any legal proceedings mentioned in news clippings and government gazettes.
• Litigation records

What type of information does the CTOS report provide?

CTOS provides a 360 overview of your financial history including any bankruptcy, legal issues or cases proceeding under your name.

If you hold a business, it will detail the ownership and directorship of your business as well as your involvement in the business financial activities.

How can I apply for a CTOS credit report?

• Register with MyCTOS and obtain your User ID.
• You can access your CTOS report both from their website or the CTO app once your ID is activated.

Usually, financial institutions would request for both CTOS and CCRIS to cross-check and verify your credit record from different sources.

Now that you know what these credit reports will feature, you can focus on maintaining these particular aspects of your financial dealings to help you with any future credit applications.

This article was contributed by PropertyAdvisor.my, Malaysia’s most comprehensive source of property data, property analytics and insights.