Ability to repay

Affordability and instalment-load review

Whether the file shows a real attempt to judge instalment burden — income, existing deductions, and living costs — rather than a score pass dressed up as affordability.

From RM 6,200 per engagement · Usually 2–4 weeks

Calculator, pen and financial worksheets on a wooden desk

A credit score can rank risk. It cannot, by itself, show that a particular instalment was affordable for the person who applied. Malaysian consumer-credit expectations still turn on whether the lender (or the BNPL provider standing in that role) took reasonable steps to understand repayment capacity.

We read how income was evidenced — payslip, bank statement, declared figure, or merchant estimate — and whether existing instalments, including other BNPL plans, were visible to the decision. We also look at whether living-cost assumptions were documented or silently assumed.

Where policy allows thin-file approvals, we check that the thin-file path was the one actually used, and that the file does not borrow language from a full assessment that never happened.

Findings are written so a credit manager can change a checklist, a threshold, or a merchant script — not so a vendor can pitch a new model.

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