Duration 3 days – 21 hrs
Overview
This beginner-friendly course builds a solid foundation on consumer credit principles and applies them to credit card products—how issuers assess risk, how cardholders borrow and repay, and how billing statements, interest/finance charges, and fees work in practice. It also covers must-know Philippine regulations and consumer protection basics, including the BSP ceilings on credit card interest/finance charges and the Truth in Lending Act disclosure principles
Objectives
- Explain core credit concepts: risk, capacity, willingness to pay, collateral (if any), and creditworthiness.
- Describe the end-to-end credit card lifecycle: acquisition → approval → usage → billing → payments → delinquency.
- Interpret a credit card statement of account (cycle, cut-off, due date, MAD, fees, finance charges).
- Understand key PH compliance guardrails:
- Interest/finance charge caps and cash advance fee limits
- Truth in Lending Act: importance of full disclosure of the true cost of credit Basic financial consumer protection risk management expectations (high level)
- Identify common credit card risks (application fraud, delinquency drivers, dispute scenarios) and proper escalation awareness (e.g., access device fraud)
Audience
- New hires in Credit, Underwriting, Risk Ops, Customer Service, and Collections
- Product/Business teams supporting credit card programs
- Branch/frontline staff who explain card terms and billing to customers
- Fintech/EMI teams launching or supporting a credit card / carded credit product in PH
Pre- requisites
- Basic familiarity with banking terms (loan, interest, due date)
- Comfortable with basic arithmetic and simple Excel (optional but helpful)
- No prior credit background required
Course Outline
Credit fundamentals + how credit cards work
Module 1: Fundamentals of Credit (the “why” behind lending)
- What credit is, why lenders exist, and how risk is priced
- Credit pillars: capacity, character, capital, conditions (and collateral conceptually)
- Credit lifecycle and where failures happen (approval, usage, billing, repayment)
Activity: Quick quiz + “good borrower vs risky borrower” scenarios
Module 2: Consumer credit in the PH context (high-level)
- Types of consumer credit: personal loans, BNPL, revolving credit (cards)
- Typical sources of repayment: salary, business income, remittances
- Why “over-indebtedness” happens and how it shows up in card behavior
Module 3: Credit card product basics (market and mechanics)
- Revolving credit vs installment: what “revolve” means
- Key terms: credit limit, available limit, utilization, overlimit (if applicable), cash advance
- Transaction types: retail purchases, installments, cash advances, fees, adjustments
- The economics (conceptual): interchange vs finance charges vs fees (why issuers care)
Module 4: Credit evaluation basics (non-technical, fundamentals level)
- What underwriters look for:
- identity/KYC hygiene (conceptual)
- income stability indicators
- obligations and basic DTI idea
- red flags and inconsistent information
- High-level view of scoring and rule-based approvals (no vendor-specific tools)
Workshop: Evaluate 3 sample applicant profiles and decide approve/decline/refer (with rationale)
Billing fundamentals + delinquency + PH compliance essentials
Module 5: Billing cycle and statement fundamentals
- Cut-off date, statement date, due date, posting date
- Statement components:
- beginning balance, purchases, payments, credits, fees
- minimum amount due (MAD)
- total amount due
- Customer behaviors: transactor vs revolver and what it means for billing
Lab: Read a sample statement and explain it in plain language (frontliner-ready)
Module 6: Interest/finance charges and fees (PH regulatory guardrails)
- BSP ceilings (as applicable to your program):
- Interest/finance charge cap up to 36% per year (3% per month)
- Installment add-on rate cap up to 1% per month
- Cash advance: processing fee cap up to PHP 200 and no other fees beyond what’s allowed
- What Truth in Lending aims to prevent (customers misunderstanding true cost)
Exercise: Simple finance charge scenario walkthrough (conceptual computation + customer explanation)
Module 7: Delinquency basics and collections handoffs
- When an account becomes past due (what “delinquent” means in operations)
- Why customers miss payments: income shock, overextension, disputes, fraud, poor understanding
- Early-stage vs late-stage delinquency (conceptual buckets)
- Collections do’s/don’ts (tone, documentation, escalation)
Module 8: Fraud and disputes awareness (fundamentals)
- Common fraud/dispute situations: stolen card, unauthorized transactions, social engineering
- Why process discipline matters (e.g., access device fraud law awareness)
- Basic data handling expectations when dealing with customer information
Module 9: Wrap-up and on-the-job tools
- Key takeaways: credit mindset + billing clarity + consumer protection guardrails
- Personal action plan: what to reinforce at work (scripts, FAQs, checklists)
Outputs included (templates):
- “Credit Fundamentals” quick reference
- Statement explanation script (customer-friendly)
- Red flags checklist (application + billing complaints)
- Mini-knowledge check (10–15 items)
