Thai Credit Bureau to access debtors’ records as part of rehab plan
This central bank initiative will help small borrowers consolidate loans for easier repayment, but additional borrowings will be blocked until debts are cleared
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) is holding public hearings on a draft regulation that will give the National Credit Bureau access to the financial records of savings and cooperatives members. This is part of the central bank’s debt rehabilitation process.
A BOT source said the draft regulation from the Committee for the Protection of Credit Information (CPCI) was now undergoing a public hearing before it is announced and enforced in January next year.
The CPCI drafted the regulation to implement the December 19, 2023 Cabinet resolution, in which it tasked the relevant committee to work with savings and credit cooperatives as well as financial institutions to help small-time borrowers.
As part of the measures, debtors of credit cooperatives would be allowed to put all their small loans together, so it becomes easier for them to repay their loans and reduce the interest they are charged.
However, these refinanced debtors are not allowed to take any loans until they repay their debts. As a result, the Credit Bureau needs to add their debt records in the bureau’s database so other financial institutions do not grant them new loans, the source explained.
The draft will also allow the bureau to access the records of those who enter the debt rehabilitation programme even if their credit cooperatives are not members of the bureau, the source added. The bureau can normally only access the data of its members.
