Ctos (Credit Tip-off Services) by itself is useful to large financial institution to check the credit-worthiness of a person. It is helpful and as pointed by the managing director of Ctos , the information that you are seeking is available to the public if you have the time and money to go to the courts to make a file search. What they have done is to collate all the information and make it readily accessible to those who subscribe to their services.

The problem with Ctos is, it is a one-way traffic in that they do not update their records and old information are left there. A person may have owed the bank a few years back, and if there are legal action instituted against the person, this information is captured by Ctos. The fact that the person has subsequently settled the debt is not reflected in the Ctos information database.

This is where the problem lies. The poor soul who may have made it in life and applies a loan to buy a house will be told that his name has been blacklisted because of a civil action against him. After much protest and showing proof that the civil action has been settled and perhaps threats to take action against Ctos, will they then expunge the records from the database?

I hold the view that for Ctos to be relevant and for them to exist, they must be more responsible to ensure that their records be updated to reflect the true financial standing of the person. That I strongly feel is their legal and moral responsibility to the public.