A new public register to help prevent excessive indebtedness
The national 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 rolled out on 1 April 2024. The register’s e-service for private individuals launched on the same date.The act on the register entered into force on 1 August 2022.
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 will be included in the register. Lenders can report information as of 1 February 2024 and retrieve information as of 1 April 2024. 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.
What are the benefits of the Positive credit register?
The Positive credit register will offer:
- 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.
The register’s operational idea
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.
A new legal obligation will require all lenders to test every individual loan applicant’s creditworthiness. For carrying out the testing, the lenders will have to ask for a credit register extract for every applicant. The extract contains up-to-date information on every applicant’s loan contracts and current income.
Private individuals can view their personal credit information. They can set up a voluntary credit ban. This is a service free of charge. An e-service for private individuals will be built.
The public authorities which the legal act enumerates can utilise 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 utilise the data.
Further information
Get familiar with the terminology
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