Citi Singapore unveils automated assessment for debt consolidation

The bank will access the customer’s credit profile via API.

Citibank Singapore has introduced an instant in-principle approval for consumers applying for debt consolidation online in what it claims is a first in Singapore.

Upon receiving a debt consolidation application, the bank will access the customer’s credit report through an API integration with Credit Bureau Singapore and will assess the customer’s credit profile through a fully automated process, eliminating the need to wait up to three days for a decision from the bank.

Customers can then submit their supporting documents – which are required by industry regulations – consisting of their various credit statements from different financial institutions, income records, and proof of identification.

“The ability to grant instant in-principle approval resolves a key customer pain point by giving customers a better sense of their application’s eventual outcome, even before they go through the effort of gathering their financial documents and sending them to the bank,” Vikas Kumar, head of cards and personal loans, Citibank Singapore, said in a statement.

Introduced by financial institutions in January 2017, debt consolidation plans help borrowers reduce their debt over time by consolidating a borrower’s existing unsecured credit balances across various institutions under a single entity. Customers on debt consolidation plans will have lower monthly repayments – as compared to the total individual payments a customer incurs – and the benefit of making repayments to a single bank.