Lenders find the register useful

In October, we organised a customer satisfaction survey for stakeholders. The aim was to survey the views of lenders and other stakeholders on the use of the Positive credit register, its benefits and possible needs for further development. We received a wide range of responses from organisations that use the Positive credit register.

Quality of credit decisions and credit market situation improved thanks to the register

The Positive credit register has been in use since the beginning of April. Since then, lenders have been using the credit register’s credit register extracts when granting credit. Credit register extracts collect information on applicants’ credit and income data from the Incomes Register. Applicants can see more comprehensive information about their own credit in the register’s e-service – the extract sent to lenders does not show, for example, breakdowns of which lender the applicant's current credit is from.

Based on the responses to the survey, lenders perceived the register as:

• improving the quality of credit decisions
• providing a better overall picture of customers’ financial situations, and
• promoting a healthier credit market in Finland.

The register is also expected to bring further benefits in the future as its use and data content expand. In the future, the register will include, for example, credit granted to individuals other than consumers, i.e. credit granted to self-employed persons working under a business name. There are also plans to extend the register to include information on the share of debt of housing company loans.

The challenges of technical limitations – data coverage also needs improvement

According to the survey responses, challenges in using the register included lack of rights, regulatory ambiguity, data quality and technical limitations. Some organisations also highlighted the additional costs of using the register and an increase in manual work. Further development of the technical processes of the register and, for example, making it easier to correct various errors, were also mentioned as areas for further development.

Lenders hoped that the register could provide more comprehensive information on customers’ income data. The income data comes from the Incomes Register, which does not include, for example, capital income and income from business activities. For this reason, they do not show up in credit register extracts either. Lenders also wanted more detailed information on the credit and loan applicants.

We will continue to develop the register and continue our cooperation in the future

The feedback we receive is very important to us: We use the feedback responses we receive to support our development work in order to continue to improve the register. We will improve our technical solutions and data quality control to detect any incorrect data in a timely manner. We are also developing our guidance in error situations. We will continue active dialogue with our stakeholders so that any challenges can be addressed quickly and up-to-date guidance is always available.

Thank you for your responses to our survey!