How does the register work?

The Positive credit register gathers information on the credits issued to Finnish individuals, and gathers information on their current income. The aim is to:

• prevent households from taking on too much debt
• improve lenders’ ability to test the creditworthiness of loan applicants
• assist individuals who want to manage their finances better
• provide a source of reliable information on the credit market

provide an easier method of follow-up and control for the public bodies that supervise the market

The Positive credit register offers

• Better opportunities for credit institutions and other lenders to ascertain customers' ability to pay back debts.
• New ways to monitor the financial market for public authorities.
• A real-time view for private individuals of their credit information with an added voluntary option to establish a personal ban on credits.

Credit institutions send information to the register on the loans they issue and on any changes in the loan contracts. Examples of reportable changes include received amortizations, and revised contract terms.

• When a private individual applies for a loan, the lender is required to check their creditworthiness
• For this, the lender requests a credit register extract from the Positive credit register
• The extract contains up-to-date information on applicant’s loan contracts and current income.

Private individuals can view their personal credit information. They can set up a voluntary credit ban free of charge.

The public authorities which the legal act enumerates can utilize data from the Positive credit register for carrying out their legal duties. For example, the Financial Supervision Authority, the Bank of Finland, the Financial Stability Authority, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority and Statistics Finland are the authorities that will utilize the data.

The register is implemented in two stages

The Positive credit register will be rolled out in two stages. In the first stage, information on consumer credits and other comparable credits has been included in the register. In the second stage at the 1 December 2025, lenders start reporting loans granted to other private individuals than consumers. Information included in the second stage can be retrieved from the register as of 1 April 2026.