Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) will apply the credit scoring method to determine the guarantee service fee it will charge customers, said TCG president Sittikorn Direksoonthorn.
Under this method, customers will be subject to different fee rates according to their scores, unlike the present method under which all customers are subject to a flat fee rate of 1.75% of the guaranteed loan amount.
He added that the development of the credit scoring system is expected to be finished within this year.
In the initial stage, TCG divides the credit scores into three levels -- lower than the standard, standard and A grade.
Customers at the standard level will be subject to a fee rate of 1.75%, while those categorised as A grade might be charged at a lower rate of 0.75-1%. Those rated as lower than the standard might be charged at a higher rate of 3%.
Mr Sittikorn added that among the customers' data the scoring will consider include their financial behaviour, their account and the period they have been operating their business.
The rating process might not be as stringent as that used by the banks to still provide room to a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to gain access to the TCG's service, he said.
All TCG customers are SMEs.
He added that the adoption of the credit scoring method is aimed at encouraging small companies to upgrade their operations in order to be subject to the lower service fee.
Mr Sittikorn said the Fiscal Policy Office is considering new criteria regarding TCG's offering of a loan guarantee to customers of licensed non-bank institutions.
Currently TCG can only provide a guarantee to the customers of non-banks of which commercial banks own at least a 50% share.
TCG is keen to expand its service to cover all the licensed non-banks, regardless of the degree to which commercial banks have a shareholding in them.
TCG focuses on serving the customers of non-banks which provide loans via a digital platform.
Mr Sittikorn, who assumed the top post at TCG seven months ago, said earlier his goal is to steer the organisation into the digital ecosystem, in line with the trend in which business is conducted at present.
It also plans to sell non-performing guarantees to the value of over 10 billion baht.
During January-August this year, TCG provided loan guarantees worth 110 billion baht to 73,000 customers, of which 39,200 were first-time customers.
The five business sectors receiving loan guarantees during this period were the service sector, representing 28% of the total, followed by the farming sector (12%), manufacturing (11%), food and beverage (10%) and metal and machinery businesses (7%).
TCG has extended loan guarantees to a large number of SMEs over the past 30 years, with the total value of accumulated loan guarantees reaching 1.34 trillion baht in value. This enabled SMEs to access financial institution loans worth 1.79 trillion baht.
Currently TCG's outstanding loan guarantees for SMEs stands at 674 billion baht.
