Malaysian credit reporting agency CTOS Digital has acquired 100% of Philippine-based fintech startup FinScore in a deal valued at $5.9 million (about ₱334 million).
The acquisition will allow CTOS Digital, the holding company of Southeast Asian credit reporting agencies namely CTOS in Malaysia and BOL in Thailand, to expand its presence in the Philippines, according to the announcement.
Additionally, CTOS also bought an 80% equity interest in PT Prime Analytics Indonesia, a fast-growing credit-scoring company in Indonesia for about $475,000.
“We are excited to embark on this remarkable journey as we enter the dynamic markets of Indonesia and the Philippines,” stated Eric Hamburger, Group CEO of CTOS Digital.
CTOS was established in Malaysia in 1990 under the purview of the Registrar Office of Credit Reporting Agencies and Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance, and regulated under the Credit Reporting Agencies Act 2010.
The company facilitates credit extensions by empowering individuals and businesses with access to crucial information at greater ease and speed.
CTOS stated its intentions to capitalize on the “strong market presence and expertise” of the acquired companies to offer a comprehensive suite of credit-related products in the Philippines and Indonesia.
On the other hand, FinScore, founded in 2017 by Diana Krumova, is an alternative credit scoring company that harnesses telco data and advanced analytics.
Its credit scoring models and platform and fraud detection solutions help financial institutions in the Philippines reduce defaults, increase approval rates, and combat fraud.
Its flagship Telco Credit Scoring draws its high predictive power from over 400 telecommunication variables – including voice usage, top-up patterns, call durations, SIM age, and location, and machine learning techniques like Gradient Boosting and Neural Networks.
In June, the company announced that it delivered 15 million total credit scores. The milestone underscores the growing adoption of its services among banks and lending companies, according to the startup.
FinScore also signed a strategic data partnership with ADVANCE.AI, a tech company that specialises in digital identity verification, risk management, and process automation.
The partnership seeks to help boost financial inclusion and access to the unbanked and underbanked customers in the Philippines and the wider Southeast Asia region.