Credit Bureau Singapore to offer consumers enhanced debt reports

CREDIT Bureau Singapore (CBS) will offer consumers more detailed credit reports from today.

The enhanced report will display a consumer's total credit limit and total outstanding balances across financial institutions, and is available online. The cost of each credit report remains unchanged at S$6.42.

CBS executive director William Lim said: "With this information, consumers can make better borrowing decisions for future applications of credit facilities. It also helps other borrowers who are at risk of credit problems avoid running into deeper debt. Borrowers who are already over-geared can take steps to reduce their outstanding debt as well."

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has strengthened credit cards and unsecured credit rules to require financial institutions to review borrowers' aggregate credit limits and outstanding balances since June 2014.

Mr Lim said the credit reports will be enhanced further in Q2 2015 to distinguish interest-bearing unsecured outstanding balances from non-interest bearing ones.

This is to give borrowers more clarity, ahead of new unsecured credit rules that kick in on June 1, 2015. Those rules will prevent lenders from granting credit to borrowers whose interest-bearing unsecured outstanding balances exceed their annual income for three consecutive months or more.