The telecom regulator and Bank of Thailand are looking at ways to use mobile bills for credit scoring.
Mobile bills used in lieu of statements
The telecom regulator and the Bank of Thailand are exploring ways to let banks and other lenders use mobile phone bills for credit scoring and to provide loans to low-income people.
The measure is meant to give borrowers access to capital for everyday spending and small business expansion, as well as prevent them from falling prey to loan sharks.
Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said the framework for the idea has been set up as part of an existing agreement between the two bodies.
Under the concept, mobile phone bills and top-ups could be used as a reference for credit approval instead of bank statements.
As for mobile operators, they could benefit from more reliable payments as customers try to attain a good payment record to improve their credit scores.
The Bank of Thailand would set the rules and methods for granting credit, while the NBTC will seek cooperation from mobile service operators to provide information linked to people applying for loans.
Loan seekers could submit applications to mobile operators, which in turn would forward the applications with related documents to banks or other financial institutions for credit approval.
Mr Takorn plans to meet Bank of Thailand governor Veerathai Santiprabhob soon to follow up on the study.
The NBTC chief said 5G development could be a boon for innovative tech, such as a digital platform for credit scoring and blockchain.
The commission has drafted a regulation governing personal data for telecom service and plans to submit it to the NBTC board for consideration.
The draft is designed to pave the way for general mobile phone usage for other purposes, especially those that entail state benefits, such as evaluation of the ease of doing business.
At present, the Telecom Business Act lets telecom operators use the general data of their customers only for telecom service purposes.
General data, such as the amount of the customer’s mobile usage or the duration of the customer’s mobile usage each day, could be used to improve the efficiency of some public services.
“General data does not mean personal information,” said an NBTC source who requested anonymity, adding that the use of such information would not breach users’ privacy.
The three major mobile operators in Thailand have 93.2 million mobile subscriptions.
‘‘ 5G development could be a boon for innovative tech, such as a digital platform for credit scoring and blockchain.
TAKORN TANTASITH Secretary-general, NBTC