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Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)-supervised lenders could soon be armed with sharper tools for risk assessment and approve loans more swiftly, as the central bank is rolling out external access to its credit information management system (CRIMS) in 2026.
Based on the BSP’s report on the Philippine financial system for the first semester of 2025, the central bank has scheduled CRIMS’ external rollout in 2026, which it said marks a huge leap toward “a robust national credit registry.”
“Access will soon be extended to authorized external parties, including lenders, private credit-scoring agencies, and individual borrowers, subject to stringent data privacy and security safeguards,” the BSP said.
Upon allowing private financial institutions, the entire financial system is expected to enjoy several benefits from CRIMS—the BSP’s “central database for collecting, validating, and consolidating borrower-level credit information.”
“Lenders will gain sharper tools for risk assessment, enabling fairer loan pricing, faster approvals, and broader access to credit,” the BSP said.
CRIMS contains various sets of data submitted by financial institutions, which go through a thorough validation process for accuracy and compliance with business rules. Other BSP systems consolidate and reconcile these data to maintain consistency.
As of end-July, the system has generated over 16 million borrower profiles tied to over 65 million contracts.
As rural and cooperative banks (RCBs) start submitting their data, the BSP said this will further increase the volume.
According to the BSP, borrowers can also build “reputational collateral” by repaying their debts consistently, contributing to higher credit scores. Borrowers include micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“CRIMS will also help shield consumers from overindebtedness by providing lenders with a full view of borrower exposure across institutions,” the BSP said. This prevents MSMEs from drowning in piles of debt.
Besides creditors, borrowers will also be given “the right to access and verify their own credit information.” This allows them to cross-check the accuracy of CRIMS records and manage their borrowing activity.
The comprehensive credit and equity exposures report (COCREE 2.0), which has gone through several upgrades, complements CRIMS as it “ensures the collection of granular, comprehensive, and timely” data from BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs).
