Category Archives: Loan / Mortgage / Finance

New credit assessment tool launched

CONSUMERS who are uncertain about their credit profiles and how it may affect their prospects of getting loans from banks can now get an instant snapshot of their credit profile and viability, thanks to a link-up between DP Credit Bureau and Experian.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Experian specialises in providing information and analytical tools and marketing services to organisations and consumers to help manage the risk and reward of commercial and financial decisions. DP Credit Bureau is the consumer credit bureau unit of DP Information Group.

Experian is bringing to Singapore its Delphi consumer credit assessment tool in the form of the DP-Delphi program. According to Dennis Martin, Experian’s managing director for Asia-Pacific credit services, banks in the US and UK use the Delphi program to assess the credit viability of consumers before issuing loans. Continue reading

Bank lending stands at 7-month high in June

Growth fuelled by home loans even as lending to businesses slows

BANK lending rose in June to the highest level in seven months as growth in home loans accelerated even as lending to businesses continued to slow.

The total amount of Singapore-dollar loans held by banks here grew by 0.5 per cent over the month to $272.2 billion at end-June, estimates from the Monetary Authority of Singapore show. That followed an expansion in overall bank lending of 0.3 per cent in May, fuelling optimism that both credit demand and supply could be recovering.

‘It’s not very dramatic, but it is one more sign of stabilisation in the economy,’ said David Cohen, director of Asian economic forecasting at Action Economics.

The main source of growth was consumer housing and bridging loans, which rose 1.5 per cent in June to $82.9 billion, after a 0.8 per cent increase in May. Continue reading