New loan types to the Positive credit register starting in December

Starting on 1 December, lenders will report loans granted to business name entrepreneurs and to agricultral or forestry operators to the Positive credit register. Until now, only consumer credits and loans comparable to them have been reported to the register.

What is this all about?

The goal of the Positive credit register is to prevent households from taking on too much debt and to help individuals control their finances.

“There are around 360,000 business name entrepreneurs and agricultural and forestry operators in Finland, and they may have loans they have taken for their business activities or agricultural and forestry operations. Until now, only some of their loans have been recorded in the register, as data on business loans has not been reported. In future, they will get a clear, comprehensive picture of their credit liabilities and can control their finances increasingly better,” says Aino Sarakorpi, Project Director.

The register also aims to improve lenders’ ability to assess loan applicants’ creditworthiness. The more comprehensive information the register provides, the more useful it is to both individuals and lenders. The Bank of Finland estimates that the volume of loans granted to small businesses is approximately €7.3 billion.

“The volume of loans currently in the register is approximately €150 billion. In other words, the Bank of Finland’s estimate of an addition of over €7 billion is around 5 per cent of the entire loan volume recorded in the register. In the light of the number of small businesses, this may increase an individual’s total loan amount significantly,” says Sarakorpi.

Authorities, such as the Bank of Finland and Statistics Finland, will also receive more accurate information on loans granted to households in future, which will improve the reliability of statistics.

Lenders report data to the register in production – the register’s coverage expands gradually

Lenders must report loans granted to business name entrepreneurs and agricultural and forestry operators to the register between 1 December 2025 and 31 March 2026. Different individuals’ data may start to show at different times, depending on when lenders report the loans. After reporting loan contracts to the register, lenders must start updating the loan data according to the instructions provided and report new loans of the same type to the register.

“This is a big step towards more extensive and up-to-date data. The new data will be useful to both individuals themselves and to lenders. Individuals will see nearly all loans that may affect their finances at one glance. In addition, lenders get a more comprehensive picture of a person’s finances, which helps in credit decisions,” says Sarakorpi.

Loans will appear in the e-service for private individuals and in credit register extracts as soon as lenders report them to the register. The data can also be used in consumer lending as soon as it is reported. For example, if a business name entrepreneur applies for a car or home loan or a credit card after 1 December, the lender will also see data on their business loans in the credit register extract if it has already been reported to the register.

“Lenders must be particularly careful when reporting loans, as the data is reported to the register in production. If loans are reported incorrectly, the errors are immediately shown both in the e-service for private individuals and in credit register extracts requested about the person’s data,” explains Sarakorpi.

Starting in mid-December, you can follow the progress of the reporting on our Data notifiers web page.

Lenders must be able to receive and send data

Because of the change, the credit register extract will contain new data fields in future. Lenders must also be able to receive the new data.

“We have encouraged lenders to test not only reporting but also receiving of data carefully before the reporting starts in December. If they are unable to receive new data, they may have to stop lending for a while,” says Sarakorpi.

What happens and when?

• 1 December 2025–31 March 2026: Lenders report new loans to the register. The loan data is reported to the register in production. Lenders can use the loan data in consumer lending.
• Starting on 1 April 2026: Lenders can also use the new loan data in business lending if they have requested and received a data permission. Business lending refers to situations such as when a business name entrepreneur makes purchases for their business activities or when an agricultural operator buys agricultural equipment.