Credit cards' past due receivables surge
Credit card debt is becoming a major consumer problem. The Central Bank reported that past due credit card receivables went up by 66% year on year. From P5.5 billion in the first quarter last year, it has now surged to P13.8 billion.
To help curb this problem, the Central Bank has been proposing the creation of a credit bureau that would require credit card companies to share information about their cardholders, giving them a glimpse of our credit history. Right now, companies use a crude method of calling up some of the bigger card companies or check with the negative databank shared by banks.
But this, along with other reforms to modernize our capital markets, requires legislation. And you all know the performance of our Senate when it comes to legislation.
