Good morning to friends from media!

Since ACCCIM signed a collaboration agreement with Credit Bureau Malaysia (CBM) in May 2012, both parties have gone through several discussions to finalise the details of cooperation and procedures to facilitate members of ACCCIM Constituent Chambers to obtain services of CBM in the most convenient way.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are many people in the business community who are not aware on the role and services of CBM.  The Bureau was set up by Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGC) in year 2008 with the objectives to enhance SMEs’ access to financing and to create a sound credit culture amongst the business community in the country.  The Bureau undertakes this role by generating independent credit ratings on SMEs from credit and corporate business information obtained from credible sources such as Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM).

Malaysian SMEs have always been facing problems in obtaining financing from commercial banks due to various reasons.  ACCCIM has been working closely with the Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara Malaysia and The Association of Banks in Malaysia, seeking to resolve this problem.

Traditionally, one of the key factors in credit evaluation is the historical conduct of payment behavior. SMEs that have no previous banking history would not have the ‘reputational collateral’ that would otherwise give them easier access to financing.

The Bureau’s role is to “bridge” the current perceived information gap and address some of the issues related to inadequate financial track record involving SMEs. By bridging this gap, The Bureau hopes to create an increasing level of trust between SMEs and lenders, while promoting greater transparency and competition between lenders.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

While The Bureau’s reports and ratings are primarily used for credit evaluation, they may also be used by the SMEs to undertake a self-check. This is because The Bureau’s credit ratings will identify and highlight areas that need improvement and the necessary remedial actions to be taken by SMEs in order to resolve their weaknesses and improve their credit standing. Having identified their weaknesses, SMEs, if they wish, can also seek professional counselling from The Bureau on the remedial actions required. This service is available to SMEs free of charge.

Meanwhile, by getting consent from clients or potential partners, members can also obtain their credit ranking report and determine the risk for cooperation.  By having such analysis, members can have better management and reduce the risk for getting bad debt.

The ACCCIM also wish to assist members of Constituent Chambers to build up well managed credit records through this cooperation.  In long term, we hope that the commercial banks can fix different interest rate according to their credit ranking, so that those have better ranking can enjoy lower interest rate to reduce their cost of doing business and increase their competitiveness.

Thank you.