There are few among us who can say they don't owe any money; true enough we all borrow whether it be for a house, a car, a television, a cellular phone, or even a phone company. But when does good credit go bad? In Belize....too many times....which is why the Belize Credit Bureau is trying to teach the importance of good credit through credit awareness. Keith Swift found out why what you don't pay can end up costing you.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The sign in their office says 'Credit is your best asset. Protect it,' because if you don't then it can become your worst liability.
Anwar Barrow, Manager Belize Credit Bureau
"If you borrow borrow borrow and you don't pay back then you won't be able to borrow anymore and a lot of people will continue to borrow if they know that there are no repercussions for them not paying."
Anwar Barrow manages the Belize Credit Bureau, which collects data on people who pay late and those who just don't pay. The Bureau collects bad debt information from over 200 businesses and turns it into this single page known as your personal credit reference. Call it a report card on your credit worthiness.
Anwar Barrow,
"We don't generate the information, we don't make it up, everything that we have is recorded and submitted from businesses throughout the country. So we are just using that information to compile a report on that person. We don't alter the information in anyway; we don't do anything with it. We are just a medium between the business and other businesses that don't want to get hurt by the same person. When somebody comes into the system they come in as a bad debtor because we collect bad debt information so they start out as an H, high risk, meaning that they owe and they have not paid. And then after they pay their debts they can move up to a C rating, which is caution hard pay but they paid. If they come in and they work with us and they are at a C rating and they show us that they have reestablished their credit, they move up to a L, which is a low risk. After six years, no matter what rating they are at, they will go to a G2 which means their last complaint was 6 years ago or more. If they are in the system with no complaints then they get a G rating which is the highest rating."
For confidentiality reasons, Barrow couldn't disclose which businesses actually use the database. Interestingly he did however note that the 3 major utilities haven't yet signed on. And as much as credit is good for you the borrower, he says it is equally beneficial to those who lend.
Anwar Barrow,
"The business community is losing millions and millions of dollars every month to people who refuse to pay their bills and what this system will do is lock out those people from getting further credit and further damaging businesses around the country. So those who are good payers then will benefit from increased access to goods and services being that the businesses will be able to issue credit, not blindly but with some type of indicator as to what type of payer that is, and the businesses will be able to reduce their losses because they'll have less people owing them. I just want to encourage businesses to submit their bad debt information because the more they submit, the harder it will be for that person to get credit. And on the other end to use the personal credit reference which will give them an indicator as to how a particular customer will repay their credit."
Barrow also encourages you to access your PRC, after all it is yours. The process is rather simply. All you need to do is fill out a form, present your Social Security card, which is required, and then wait.
[Keith Speaking to Customer Service Teller]
And then more waiting before you are handed the envelope.
[Keith Handed Credit Report with result of G]
Anwar Barrow,
There will always be hard payers, that is one thing for sure, but with this system we can reduce the amount of hardpayers."
Belize Credit Bureau is located on Douglas Jones Street. A personal credit reference costs $5. But on Saturday, as part of Credit Awareness Week, you can go into their office and receive your credit report free of charge.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited for the internet by Keith Swift
