Credit Officer Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a credit officer. Feel free to use our credit officer job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a credit officer.
Who is a Credit Officer?
A Credit officer is also called Loan Officer who works at a financial institution and his responsibility is to assist clients with loan applications by assessing creditworthiness and processing relevant paperwork. They check the creditworthiness of clients by evaluating and then recommending them.
As the world is evolving and the economy is changing, economic growth will lead to more demands for Credit officers for both businesses and people who seek credit to finance commercial investment and personal expenditure. Credit officers will need to review the creditworthiness of applicants, and also ascertain the possibility of the loan being paid back at the scheduled time. Credit officers use computer software regularly that can store data and also loan information which led to low interaction between credit officers and clients. This makes the job placement of loan officers to be limited and only a few process loan applications.
Credit officers, whose area of specialty is consumer loan, work in offices while mortgage and commercial bank loan officers work outside the office and they go as far as meeting with clients in their homes. The work schedule of a loan officer is full time and some credit officers can work for 40 hours per week or extensive hours; this solely depends on the firm they work for.
Types of Credit Officers
- Commercial Loan officers: the area of their specialization is lending out to businesses especially infant businesses, which mostly these loans to expand their business. Commercial loans are larger than any type of loan because clients borrow in large amounts. Most companies have complex financial issues and they need these loans to upgrade their businesses so that they will not crash. In addition, some commercial loans are very large that a single bank entity cannot issue them; banks have to merge to give out these loans. Examples of such loans are loans used to finance a mega-
- Consumer loan Officers: they specialize in giving loans to individuals. Consumers take out loans for many reasons such as building houses or paying college tuition. For some consumer loans, the undertaking process is fully automated. The loan officer usually directs the consumer on the guidelines in obtaining the loan and there are times when the issue can be complex. Some institutions such as small banks or credit unions do not utilize the underwriting software but they ask credit officers to complete the process manually.
- Mortgage loan officers: this area of specialization gives out loans to clients to buy real estate which is houses or property buildings. This kind of loan is called a mortgage. The credit officer specializes in loans for both residential and commercial properties. Mortgage loan officers are always on the lookout for clients and so they build interpersonal relationships with real estate companies and other sources that can refer potential applicants or customers to them.
- Loan collection officers: Their responsibility is to make contact with a borrower who fails to pay their loan at the agreed time. They work closely with borrowers and assist them by showing them the way to pay off their loans. If the borrower still refuses to repay the loan; the credit officer will collect what the borrower used to collect the loan (collateral). Collateral can be a land, house, car, or any other assets; the loan officer sells the collateral to retrieve the loan.
- Loan underwriters: their sole responsibility is to evaluate or assess if a client is loan worthy. They obtain, verify and evaluate the client financial information provided on their loan applications and then use the loan underwriting software to produce recommendations. Another way to evaluate if a client is loan worthy is by evaluating what the client wants to use as collateral for a loan that is if the assets can be sold to retrieve the loan if the client fails to pay it
Credit Officer Job Description
Below are the credit officer job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a credit officer job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a credit officer are;
- Meeting clients that show interest in obtaining a loan and providing them with the required information to start the application process
- Obtaining the necessary financial documentation and evaluating the clients’ creditworthiness
- Approving or denying loan requests. And communicating your decision to both clients and management
- Setting up payments plans for clients explaining monthly installment amounts, interest rates, and other costs
- Maintaining records of loan applications by utilizing loan management software
- Managing loan renewals by organizing follow-up meetings with client
- Monitoring the process of the loan application process and relaying any hindrances to clients
- Ensuring that loan applications are in line with the company’s financial policies, as well as state laws and regulations
- Follow up with clients about loan renewal
- Monitor progress of exciting loans.
- Completely assess the economic factors affecting loans’ interest rate
- Capably aide clients in establishing a budget and a schedule for repaying their loans
- Identify and retrieve key information in charts and graphs and apply it to documents customized for clients
- Approve loan applications or direct clients to management
- Using software or application known as underwriting to assess if applicants qualify for loans or not.
Most firms or banks use underwriting software after they obtain the information from the loan applicants. The underwriting software produces a recommendation for the loan based on the information obtained from the applicant’s financial status. After the underwriting software produces a recommendation, loan officers assess the result of the software and then assess any available information to make a decision on which client is loan worthy.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Banking, Economics, Finance, or a related discipline
- Proven work experience as a Mortgage Loan Office, Credit Manager, or a similar position in the Accounting Department
- Strong understanding of lending procedures and creditworthiness of the client
- Paying excellent attention to detail
- Good verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to work under pressure when required
- Ability to work with a team or independently
- Good decision-making abilities
- Ability to multi-task
- Exceptional mathematics skills
- Exceptional accounting skills
Essential Skills
- Interpersonal Skills: These skills are very paramount to credit officers because they tend to make first contact with clients, give clients a guideline on the loan procedures, and also keep following up with clients till they repay the loan. Credit officers and customers need to build interpersonal relationships.
- Analytical Skills: this has to do with the ability of credit officers to focus on details and also apply critical thinking skills when discharging their duties. This skill is mostly needed when assessing if a client is loan worthy or not. In addition, loan officers also review numbers and it is requisite that all figures are verified and documented for the underwriting request.
- Managerial Skills: Loan officers keep records of files, relationships, resources, and time and also meet up with people’s expectations. It is therefore important for credit officers to have organizational skills as well as a good attitude for financial training.
- Ability to Multi-task: credit officers may be demanded to work under intense pressure; they need to juggle many tasks at once. For instance, devising full-scale strategic plans and creating an action plan to achieve a control direction. They should possess the ability to forecast by seeing the forest through the trees.
- Consumer Service: the main purpose of credit officers is to satisfy customers. A credit officer works closely with clients to make sure their demands are met; the credit officer gives an orientation to customers on the processes of obtaining a loan. Customer satisfaction is very paramount to the credit officer and he puts his best in place to make sure that customers’ needs are met. A good credit officer will enroll in training/mentoring programs to acquire customer service skills. Loan officers usually answer questions and also serve as a guide to customers through the application process. Most credit officers market the products and services of a lending institution and actively look for new clients.
- Decision-making: the decision of the client that gets the loan is solely in the hands of the credit officer. It is the credit officer that assesses if a client is loan worthy or not. This decision-making process is highly crucial because this solely depends if the client will get the loan or not. When a client collects a loan and does not pay up the loan at the scheduled time; it is solely the decision of the credit officer to sell the collateral for the loan and repay the loan.
- Time-management: time is very important and a credit officer should be someone very particular about time. He or she must be very time conscious to make sure that deadlines are met at the appropriate time.
How to Become a Credit Officer
For an individual to become a credit officer; is n ambition that one has to develop very early and pursue. These are the following steps to becoming a credit officer:
- Acquire a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, or a related field.
Credit officers need a bachelor’s degree in Finance or any related field. You will need to upgrade your communication, mathematics, customer satisfaction, and analytical skills to satisfy customers. Credit officers also need to possess knowledge of relevant loan application software systems, but there are some aspects of the software that you will need to be taught on the job training. Education is highly paramount because commercial loan officers analyze the finances of businesses before concluding if they are creditworthy or not. Credit officers need to have extensive knowledge about business accounting and they should also possess the ability to comprehend financial statements.
- Enroll for Job-training
This is highly essential because no employer wants to hire a novice as a credit officer. Credit officers can receive training once hired but they can also volunteer as interns to gain the requisite skills needed on the job scene. The job training may comprise a combination of formal, company-sponsored training, and informal training during the first few months of the interview. Some employers are on the lookout for candidates that possess a background in credit administration or credit portfolio management. Job training is also vital because you get to harness knowledge in lending products and loan methods; this experience is obtainable by working in a bank.
- Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations
Some states or countries mandate that Mortgage Loan officers must obtain a license before they can fully practice. The process varies across different countries but most time it requires writing an exam. For instance, a Mortgage loan officer in the United States must possess a Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) license. To become fully licensed, they must finish up at least 20 hours of coursework, pass an exam, and be verified for background and credit checks.
There are several certifications a credit officer can obtain. There are diverse numbers of schools that offer courses, training programs, or certifications for loan officers. Although certifications are not mandatory in some states, a candidate that possesses a credit officer certification is always distinct from the other candidates and it enhances his employment opportunities. You can acquire certification as a Certified Lender Business Banker (CLBB) and this can help you to advance your career professionally. In addition, join a professional body of credit officers or your school alumni meetings to meet up with professionals in the field.
- Draft Your Resume
The next step to take is to draft a marketable resume. In this resume; include your working experience, education, and skills. After you have drafted your resume; search out for open vacancies both online and offline. If you cannot find an open vacancy at a particular moment; you can start your career as a graduate trainee of a bank or a marketing officer. This will also help you to hone skills that will build your career as a credit officer.
Where can a Credit Officer work?
- Commercial Banks
- Credit unions
- Mortgage Banks
- Financial Institutions
- International financial institutions such as World Bank and International Monetary Fund(IMF)
- Trade Centers
- Firms
- Businesses
- Online as Remote Credit Officer
Credit Officer Salary Scale
- In Nigeria, the salary of a credit officer is 284,000NGN per month. Salaries range from 145,000NGN to 438,000NGN. The salary depends on the experience of the credit officer.
- The average salary of a credit officer is $122,500 in the United States per year and he earns $57.69 per hour. Entry-level credit officers earn $48,766 per year while most experienced credit officers earn 165,750 per year.
