CIC EARNS ISO CERTIFICATION AMID PANDEMIC

Credit Information Corporation (CIC)—the country’s sole public credit registry and repository of credit information—earned its ISO 9001:2015 certification following the successful establishment of its Quality Management System (QMS) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The certification was issued by the BSI Group Philippines Inc., the local branch of the British Standards Institution (BSI) Group which is one of the world’s most experienced standards body and a founding member of ISO.

The CIC underwent a successful two-stage audit, verifying how its QMS meets applicable statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements.

“Despite the adversities brought about by the pandemic, we persistently worked on our ISOQMS certification in 2020. This is a testament to the commitment of our workforce to strengthen and improve our products and services and to go beyond our stakeholders’ expectations,” Atty. Aileen L. Amor-Bautista, Senior Vice President for Business Development Communications, shared.

Strengthening credit information services

The certification covers the QMS of credit information services which includes the operational processes of credit data management, Special Accessing Entity (SAE) accreditation, online dispute resolution, and capacity building, as well as the risk management system, operational planning and control, administration and facilities, performance evaluation, and internal audit procedures of CIC.

The certifying body also commended the coverage of CIC’s QMS which includes identified applications and horizontals, as well as the internally-developed systems supporting its operations. It was also cited how its employees and process owners are highly aware of the need to be aligned with the established QMS Manual of the agency.

“Even before the pandemic, we already have system innovations and enhancements in CIC. To have been commended for the internally-developed systems we have put in place is an evidence that despite budget constraints, CIC is able to deliver top-caliber services,” Ms. Ma. Bernadette B. Bautista, Acting Vice President for Credit Information Management Services (CIMS), cited.

Technical assistance

Atty. Amor-Bautista also acknowledged the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) for providing technical assistance to the CIC on the development of its QMS: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank DAP for the extra mile they have extended to our agency. The journey of learning and implementing the requirements for ISO certification has been very challenging for us as we have to do most of the tasks remotely due to COVID-19, but DAP has been encouraging and helpful every step of the way. The certification of the CIC was a success because of the immense efforts they have poured in for our agency,” the SVP continued.

“CIC was among the twelve (12) beneficiary agencies of DAP Government Quality Management Program’s (GQMP) technical assistance. We are very elated because in less than a year after we had the meeting with the agency—that was March 2020—CIC has already received its ISO certification. This shows that the assistance extended by DAP yielded a worthwhile outcome,” DAP PCEO, Atty. Engelbert C. Caronan, conveyed.

For the rest of 2020, the CIC formed its QMS Task Force and attended purely online training courses on QMS requirements and documentation, process streamlining, enhancements of operational controls and procedures, audit, and root cause analysis following the program design of DAP.

Meanwhile, DAP Vice President and Managing Director for Productivity and Development Center (PDC) Mr. Arnel D. Abanto also expressed how proud he is of the agency’s achievement: “DAP witnessed the hours of labor CIC has put into making the certification possible and with that, I’d like to congratulate the agency for a job well-done.”

The next two years shall be allotted for surveillance audits as part of the three-year validity of the certification.

“We commit to regularly review and improve our system and processes and train our workforce to ensure continuous compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. From here forward, our stakeholders can expect an even more reliable and comprehensive credit information system,” Atty. Amor-Bautista ended.

ISO, or the International Organization for Standardization, is an independent, nongovernmental, international organization that develops standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficiency of products, services, and systems.