Consumer FAQs

Borrowers include consumers, individuals, sole traders, companies and any other entities that are resident in the State at the time of making the credit application, or where the credit agreement is governed by Irish law.

In time, it will also include guarantors who provide guarantees or indemnities in respect of credit agreements.

Lenders include banks, credit unions, Local Authorities, NAMA, licensed moneylenders and asset finance houses. The obligations will also apply to those entities that have acquired loan books from Irish financial institutions in recent years.

The Central Credit Register includes loans such as:

• Credit cards
• Mortgages
• Overdrafts
• Personal loans

If 

• the loan is for €500 or more; and 
• the borrower lives in the State at the time of applying for a loan,

           or where

• The loan agreement or loan application is governed by Irish law.

Business loans, licensed moneylenders and local authority loans will be included from 30 March 2018. Click here to see what is not included

The Government gave a commitment as part of the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland to develop a legal framework that would facilitate the collection and centralisation of financial information on borrowers. 

The Credit Reporting Act 2013 was framed from the recommendations of the Report of the Inter-Agency Working Group on Credit Histories, which recommended the establishment of a central credit register to resolve weaknesses identified in various reports published subsequent to the banking crisis.

The Register will contribute to financial stability and consumer protection by:

• Providing lenders with more comprehensive analysis of borrowers’ creditworthiness
• Equipping borrowers with information on their financial profile
• Giving the Central Bank better insight into financial markets and supporting several functions including prudential supervision, statistics and financial stability.

Yes, credit registers have been functioning worldwide for many years, helping lenders make decisions and helping prevent borrowers becoming over-indebted. In the EU most countries have credit registers including Germany and France. The Central Credit Register in Belgium for example is operated by the National Bank of Belgium.

In Ireland, the Credit Reporting Act 2013 provides that the Central Bank is responsible for the establishment and operation of the national, mandatory credit reporting system called the Central Credit Register.

Credit information will be held on the Central Credit Register for a period of five years from the date a loan is paid off.

Credit performance information, such as outstanding balance and number of payments past due will be held on the Central Credit Register for a period of five years from when it was first submitted.

Personal information will be held for a period of five years from the date the last loan was paid off.

Personal and credit information will be submitted to the Central Credit Register with effect from 30 June 2017 in relation to new and existing loans. This snapshot includes information such as of number of overdue payments if any, and amount outstanding. This snapshot will be submitted on a monthly basis from the 30 June 2017.

Personal and credit information will be submitted to the Central Credit Register from 30 June 2017.  If there are any payments past due on your account at 30 June 2017, the number of payments past due will be reported to the Central Credit Register.  The actual amount of arrears will not.

Your lender is responsible for the accuracy of the data that they send to the Central Credit Register.  While it is still in their possession, they are a data controller under the Data Protection Acts. 

Once the data is received by the Central Credit Register the Central Bank becomes the data controller.

If you believe some of your data is inaccurate on your credit report, you have a right to request that the data be amended. Instructions on how to request an amendment of your data will be available on the website at the same time that credit reports become available in early 2018.

No. The Central Credit Register does not create lists or files of defaulters. Lenders can only request credit reports for a permitted purpose, such as an application for a new loan.

Each lender may make their own decision whether to approve or decline a loan, based not only on a credit report, but also details of income and assets, their own lending policy and any other information that they may require. 

Yes. The Credit Reporting Act 2013 and the Regulations provide the legal basis for the collection and processing of personal information, including PPSNs. The Central Bank consulted with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in advance of publishing these Regulations as provided for in the Act.

Each time a lender accesses your credit report, they leave a footprint.  A footprint is a record of the date, the lender name, and the reason why that particular lender sought your credit report.

The footprint is at the end of your credit report and is retained for 5 years after the lender has accessed your credit report . 

A footprint looks like this:

Yes they are different.

Personal information:

If your PPSN has been reported to the Central Credit Register it will not be included on the credit report that is accessed by your Lender.

Credit Information: 

Your lender will only ever see the most recent 2 years of repayment history while your own credit report will contain a maximum of the most recent 5 years repayment history.

The name of all your different lenders will be displayed on your credit report.

While lenders will see details of your loans on the credit report that they obtain, they will not see the name of any other lenders.

No, the Central Credit Register does not score or grade credit reports. Your lender will make a decision on your loan application based on their own credit policy.