The Positive credit register will be launched in the spring – a voluntary ban on credits helps to fight over-indebtedness

The Positive credit register will open to private individuals in April. Even before that, in February, lenders started reporting data to the register. The main purpose of the register is to prevent households’ over-indebtedness. For this reason, anyone can set a voluntary ban on credits to themself in the register free of charge.

The Positive credit register, which was established to prevent over-indebtedness in households, will be introduced in stages during the spring of 2024. The register will contain up-to-date data on loans granted to private individuals.

When a person applies for a new loan, lenders – such as banks – can check the person's loan status in the register and thereby make a better assessment of their ability to pay back the loan.

"The purpose of the register is to provide lenders with more up-to-date information to support their credit decisions and thereby prevent over-indebtedness," says Aino Sarakorpi, Project Director of the Positive credit register.

Lenders report data on private individuals' consumer credits, such as home loans, student loans and credit card balances, to the register. They started reporting data to the register at the beginning of February 2024.

For private individuals, the register offers a better opportunity to control their personal finances. Everyone can see their own loans reported to the register as from the beginning of April.

You can set a voluntary ban on credits to yourself

Anyone can set a voluntary ban on credits to themself in the register. For example, individuals who have challenges in controlling their finances can set a ban on credits to themselves. The ban may also be useful to individuals who have been subjected to an identity theft or a data leakage. When a person has a ban on credits, lenders must be especially careful when granting a new loan to them.

You can set a ban for a fixed or an indefinite period, and you can also remove it whenever you want. Setting a ban will not cost you anything.

Strict limitations to what data is stored in the register and who can use it and how

Social media has spread false information about what data is collected in the Positive credit register and who has access to it.

The register displays only loans granted to individuals and information about such loans' delayed amounts, but not, for example, individual payments made with a credit card. Further, the register does not display any payment defaults, the customer's all partial payments, or potential debt recovery.

"The data in the register may be used only by operators that have the legal right to do so and that use the data for purposes defined by law. A typical user is a lender who checks a private individual's loan status in the course of the lending process."

Aino Sarakorpi emphasises that although the Positive credit register operates under the Finnish Tax Administration, the Tax Administration does not have access to the data stored in the register. Kela does not have access, either, nor do landlords.

"And, naturally, private individuals can see only their own data in the register," says Aino Sarakorpi.

The reporting of existing loan data continues until the end of March

We have been testing the functionality of the register in cooperation with lenders, for example, for quite some time. The e-service provided for private individuals has also been tested in advance. The reporting of the existing loan data to the register started at the beginning of February, and it will continue until the end of March. The goal is that the register would contain all required data when the use of the register begins and the e-service for private individuals opens at the beginning of April.

"We make every effort to ensure that all lenders are able to report their data to the register correctly and on the schedule, so that when the register is launched in April, the data stored in the register can be trusted," says Aino Sarakorpi.