Many people miss out on opportunities to restart with a clean financial slate for fear of the looming credit check when applying for loans. Others opt for riskier options such as loan sharks to secure much-needed finance. But are credit checks the only factor why loan applications are rejected and should we fear the Credit Bureau?
Nowadays, many credit providers use this fear of credit checks to attract more customers by advertising “no background checks with the Credit Bureau, NCB, or past financial history” as a key selling point.
But Ngern Tidlor, the leading vehicle title loan provider, has a different perspective that stems from genuine concern for the customer.
Ngern Tidlor, a member of the Credit Bureau, recognizes the importance of submitting information to the Credit Bureau as a primary duty of credit service providers. Payment history helps to build good credit standing and repair previously bad financial history for Ngern Tidlor customers, most of whom are street vendors, farmers and people with irregular income. Ngern Tidlor provides customers with the opportunity to obtain a substantial line of credit at low interest rates. While other credit providers view Credit Bureau membership as an unnecessary cost, Ngern Tidlor sees it as worthwhile because it helps customers to roll ther lives forward. This aligns with Ngern Tidlor core mission. As the first auto title loan service provider to submit customer financial history to the National Credit Bureau (Credit Bureau), Ngern Tidlor effectively creates official financial records for hundreds of thousands of customers for the first time in their lives. This is the background of the campaign, titled “Repair Bad Credit, Build Good Credit with Ngern Tidlor”, launched to help Ngern Tidlor customers and the general public to comprehend how the Credit Bureau works, realize the importance of good credit.
And it helps them understand that bad credit history is not a lifelong scar; customers with good financial discipline are able to become persons of good credit standing while customers who apply for their first loan also have the opportunity to build a history of ‘good credit’ in the system.
To supplement this campaign, the amusing video clip “Bad Credit? No Worry, We can talk.” is packed with knowledge of how ‘Credit can be Built and Repaired’ and ‘How Bad Credit can be Repaired with Ngern Tidlor’. The campaign also provided information through online articles such as “Repair Bad Credit, Build Good Credit”, which clarifies previous misconceptions of the Credit Bureau and provides simple instructions on how to repair and build credit such as Don't just Disappear, Let's Talk, Consolidate to Manage your Debt and Rebuild Good Credit. The campaign also communicates via cartoons on Facebook channels to answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Credit Bureau.
The campaign also communicated via offline channels such as car troops to promote awareness in rural areas, as well as via posters and brochures that educate how to repair and build good credit with the Credit Bureau. These were made available at all Ngern Tidlor branches.
Additionally, an internal communication campaign within the Ngern Tidlor organization intensively communicated information and knowledge about the Credit Bureaus through a variety of channels including a MD message, employee’s interview video, training materials for both existing and new employees, and other various activities, forming a holistic approach that aimed to test knowledge and help Ngern Tidlor employees to properly understand how the Credit Bureau works. This allowed frontline employees at branches to accurately advise customers on how to repair bad credit and build good credit with the Credit Bureau.
“Most of our clients have a good repayment history, as evident in the low number of bad debts or Non-Performing Loan (NPL) for auto title loan, compared to other types of loans. Data gathered by our risk management team in 2021 revealed that nearly 100 percent of our customers are disciplined and able to make payments on time. This information gives us the confidence to further help every customer to repair their credit history and build good credit” - Ngern Tidlor Marketing Team, who played a key role in driving this campaign.
Sincere intent to help roll our customers’ lives forward and have greater financial opportunities was at the heart of the campaign “Repair Bad Credit, Build Good Credit with Ngern Tidlor”, which generated a record number of up to 7,500,000 views on the Facebook channel – 3 times more than expected within less than a week (and within half of the marketing budget). The number of views continues to increase and has since surpassed 10 million, while the YouTube channel also exceeded expectations.
The campaign also received overwhelming positive feedback including thank you from customers and members of online communities who witnessed the campaign and complimented Ngern Tidlor for opening their eyes. The National Credit Bureau (Credit Bureau) itself sent a thank you letter for helping to reduce its previously bad reputation as ‘a bad guy’ after the campaign helped to clarify the Credit Bureau’s role and create proper awareness that the Credit Bureau is simply an organization that gathers and maintains data to provide credit ratings for member financial institutions but has no authority to ‘blacklist’ anyone in any case.
This campaign clearly demonstrated the values of Ngern Tidlor, to provide knowledge and promote financial inclusion services, while reinforcing its core mission: to create fair and transparent financial opportunities.
When people who seem to be insignificant members of society are afforded the opportunity to repair bad credit and build good credit, they are given a hand to lift them out of the loan shark trap and are provided with great opportunities to access credit from financial institutions in the system.
The Ngern Tidlor business concept of “When you are free from financial burdens, we sincerely hope we never see you ever again” is a sincere expression of Ngern Tidlor empathy that is repeat over and over.
This campaign also communicates to customers the unspoken warmhearted promise that Ngern Tidlor is ready to stand with integrity alongside customers and do just the right thing.