How to read a CTOS report, section by section

The report in six parts

CTOS labels the parts of a personal report A to E. Section A is the snapshot, B holds directorships and address records, C is the banking record taken from CCRIS, D is legal cases and E is trade references. Apart from those, the report also counts how many times you have been searched. The picture shows what each part is for.

Not every copy has every part. CTOS's free basic report leaves out the score and the CCRIS records. A company report has its own section B with SSM details and the directors, and it is scored on a separate SME score.

Section A: who the report is about, and the score

Start with the identity block. The name, ID number and date of birth should match the application exactly. A mismatch can hold a file up, and the CCRIS report has a warning column that can read pending verification when Bank Negara's identity records have not matched.

Next is the CTOS Score. It runs from 300 to 850, and CTOS groups it into six bands.

The score is CTOS's own rating. A bank decides with its own rules and does not have to follow it, so a high score does not promise approval and a low one does not close every door.

Under the score, the CTOS Score Report that subscribers pull prints the factors that held it down, in short sentences such as 'too many recent enquiries', on the reports we have read. They are the quickest clue to what to fix first. Section A ends with two flags, bankruptcy proceedings record and special attention accounts, each marked YES or NO. A YES on either changes the whole conversation, so find out what is behind it before you talk about loan amounts.

Section C: the banking record from CCRIS

Section C is a copy of the customer's CCRIS record from Bank Negara Malaysia. The summary at the top gives totals: how many applications were approved in the last 12 months and for how much, how many are still pending, and the total outstanding and total limit as a borrower. It also carries two Y or N flags, for legal action taken and for special attention accounts.

Below the summary the report lists one row per facility. A special attention account is a loan the lender has placed under close watch because it is impaired or being collected on, and it gets its own block.

After the facilities come the credit applications: approved ones from the last 12 months and pending ones. Rejected applications are not shown in CCRIS. Bank Negara leaves them out so that one lender's decision does not prejudice another's.

Sections D and E: legal cases and trade references

Section D lists legal cases where the person is the defendant, with the type of case, the court, the plaintiff and the amount. CTOS says other legal cases show for a maximum of two years, and a bankruptcy record is removed two years after full settlement once CTOS holds proof such as a release letter.

Section E lists trade references. These are unpaid debts that a supplier or service provider has reported. A reference stays until the debt is settled or the business delists the customer, and CTOS says the business must delist within three working days of settlement.

Who has searched you

CTOS counts the number of times a customer has been searched. On the CTOS Score Report that subscribers pull, and on the reports we have read, this is a month-by-month grid with three rows, FI, Non-FI and Lawyer, covering the current year and the one before. FI stands for financial institution, so the rows separate searches by banks and similar lenders from searches by other subscribers and by law firms.

A burst of searches within a few months looks like a customer applying around, and lenders notice. CTOS also lists too many recent enquiries among the factors that can lower a score. Checking your own report does not count: CTOS says a personal check has no effect on your score or your applications, and only credit applications to lenders create searches that other lenders can see.

ANGKASA: koperasi loans have their own section

Some reports include an ANGKASA monthly deduction section. It lists loans repaid straight out of salary, mostly from koperasi, though the Organisation column can also read BANK. Koperasi are not on Bank Negara's published list of CCRIS reporting institutions, so their loans sit apart from section C. A bank row may already be in section C, so check before you add it.

Each row gives the koperasi, a loan type, the start and end months and the monthly deduction. It gives no balance. One way to estimate what is left is to multiply the deduction by the months remaining, and to say plainly that it is an estimate.

A reading order that takes five minutes

1. 1

   Identity

   Do the name, ID number and date of birth match the application?

2. 2

   Flags

   Is there a YES for bankruptcy, special attention or legal action? If so, stop and find out why.

3. 3

   CCRIS summary

   Note the pending applications and the total outstanding against the total limit.

4. 4

   Each facility

   For every row, note own or joint, the status, the instalment and any number above 0 in the grid.

5. 5

   Legal, trade and searches

   Read sections D and E and the search grid. These are the surprises.

6. 6

   Add it up

   List every monthly commitment, then do the DSR sum. The CTOS analyzer on our homepage reads CTOS, eCCRIS and Experian PDFs in your browser, uploads nothing, and lists the facilities for you. Inside the Loan Advisory CRM the PDF is sent to our server to be read, and a copy is kept in secure storage.