MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, presently in Hong Kong, the consumer CRA charges a monthly subscription fee of $280 for online access to credit reports. If a lender refuses to grant loans after assessing an individual applicant’s credit record, the applicant may obtain a free credit report from CRA. However, in Australia and the United States, an individual is entitled to obtain one free credit report from CRAs every year; in the Mainland of China, an individual is even entitled to two free reports per year. My question is: Will the authorities introduce the relevant measure in Hong Kong to allow each member of the public to obtain one free credit report every year?
SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY (in Cantonese): President, under the existing arrangement, a loan applicant may obtain a free credit report from CRA if his loan application is rejected. According to my understanding, the Industry Associations intend to extend this arrangement by requesting CRAs to provide more credit reports for free, e.g. one free report for each member of the public per year. The Industry Associations will announce the specific arrangement and relevant details in a timely manner.