Not always our fault, say borrowers By LEE CHONGHUI educate@thestar.com.my

NATHAN*, 23, was surprised to find that he had been listed as a defaulter in the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS) just five months after graduation.

Nathan, who partly funded his studies using a loan from the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), had attempted to apply for a credit card four months into his first job, which he landed in January after graduating from Universiti Malaysia Sabah last November.

Nathan, who is now working for a multinational company, claims he was not aware that he had to start paying back his PTPTN loan as soon as he started working.

“I was under the impression that we (fresh graduates) would only start the loan repayment six months after our graduation date,” he said, adding that he did not receive any sort of notification from PTPTN regarding the situation.

“I was told by the credit card sales representative to check my CCRIS record before applying for any loans or credit cards in future.

“I felt so embarrassed and angry as I’m not the type to delay payments,” he says.

Nathan immediately rang up the PTPTN hotline and transferred online five months of arrears amounting to RM893.75, though he was disgusted at being put on hold for 45 minutes on the phone before he was attended to.

He was also unhappy that the officer who tended to him was “not exactly helpful”, and took a long time to check his records.

“It took one week for PTPTN to update its system and a whole month for the CCRIS to clear my name.

“This scenario is not good for those who are seeking to change jobs as companies would do credit checks as part of background inspections on their potential employees, and it would likely tarnish their reputation if potential employers find out about the CCRIS blacklist,” he said, adding that his bad record will still be visible on CCRIS for a whole year even after settling the outstanding amount.

Nathan also says that PTPTN’s online payment system crashes very often, making it difficult for people to make payments.

“PTPTN should understand that borrowers are willing to pay, but it is PTPTN that is making it difficult.

“It’s worse for those who have paid but are still listed as defaulters just because the corporation is not doing their work properly,” he adds.

Zeenat*, 23, rang PTPTN up to check how she could start repaying her loan upon being offered a full time job soon after graduating. A law graduate, she was bewildered when she was informed that she had accumulated arrears of over RM2,000, and was warned she would be blacklisted if she did not start repaying.

“When I asked the officer how it was possible that I owed them such a big amount as I had just graduated, the officer said my repayment started at the end of 2013.

“I was only a second year student back then!” she says.

Zeenat reiterated the terms of the loan to the officer, which states that repayment begins six months after the completion of studies.

“I opened PTPTN’s homepage and read the terms to her.

“All she said was, the terms have changed and that if I don’t clear off the amount I’ve accumulated by the end of the month, I was at risk of being blacklisted,” she added.

Although furious, she still paid the outstanding amount rather than run the risk of being branded a defaulter.

*Names have been changed