The Bank of Thailand has already proposed to the Finance Ministry the amended draft of the National Credit Bureau (NCB) Act to enable fintech companies to be members of the country's sole credit information centre in an effort to let the bureau have more comprehensive credit information amid increasing digital lending.
Amendment of the Credit Information Business Act has focused on allowing fintech firms to provide digital lending services, including peer-to-peer (P2P) and crowdfunding, to credit bureau members, said NCB chief executive Surapol Opasatien.
Digital lending service providers are not qualified to be NCB members, as they are not considered financial institutions engaged in the lending business. The NCB has 99 members, including commercial banks and thrift and credit cooperatives.
P2P lending and debt-based crowdfunding companies only act as a matching platform between creditors and borrowers, and they themselves are not lenders, Mr Surapol said.
Under the amended draft, these fintech companies are required to seek business licences from the central bank to be qualified as NCB members, he said.
As fintech firms cannot directly access the credit bureau's data now, they must request customers get payment history reports through the self-inquiry channel.
The NCB has talked with several P2P lending and debt crowdfunding operators, and they are keen to become bureau members, Mr Surapol said.
Data is an important resource in the digital era to help business operations and control risk.
Some 100 fintech firms are members of the Thai Fintech Association, most of them P2P lending and debt crowdfunding platform service providers.
Mr Surapol said the NCB wants credit information from both traditional and digital lending, as it benefits both the banking and fintech industries, as well as the country.
"Customers who take out bank loans may also use digital lending," he said. "Without comprehensive information, it could affect loan analysis and risk management in the financial sector."
Small businesses and self-employed customers are the main targets of P2P lending and debt-based crowdfunding, as consumers with bank statements have access to bank loans.
Convenience, speed and pricing are propelling digital lending, and it could drive such loan demand among white-collar workers, Mr Surapol said.