KUALA LUMPUR: The government should establish a creditworthiness or credit scoring agency to regulate the eligibility of consumers taking loans, according to Member of Parliament (MP) Sim Tze Zin (PH-Bayan Baru).
He said that with transparent creditworthiness, it can help reduce consumers’ financial pressure as well as reduce borrowing money from unlicensed money lenders or syndicates.
“Although in Malaysia we have credit reporting companies such as CTOS, the average citizen does not understand credit scores and does not know his/her own credit scores.
“Hence, a transparent creditworthiness or credit score can determine good borrower discipline and be offered other financial facilities such as credit cards, personal loans and others,“ he said when debating the Consumer Credit Bill (RUUKP) 2025 during its second reading at the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Meanwhile, MP Rodiyah Sapiee (PH-Batang Sadong) proposed that the government establish a special ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) data centre to ensure the effectiveness of the micro-instrument is maintained.
“All information related to BNPL is collected in a special data centre which is not combined or reported in conventional credit systems such as the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS).
“This is because CCRIS is directly linked to large loan eligibility such as housing and vehicle loans, and if BNPL is included in this system, it could affect the opportunities of low-income consumers to obtain future financing,” he said.
He also said that this special data centre could be established under the Consumer Credit Commission to enable specific monitoring of BNPL’s credit risk including consumer exposure limits and payment behaviour without disrupting key financial records. – Bernama
