Common Queries

Frequently Asked Questions

You will find answers to about our CRB services. Please feel free to contact us if you don't get your question's answer in below.

A credit reference bureau is a company licenced by central bank of Kenya to collect, store and collate credit information on individuals and companies from different sources and provide the information in form of a credit report upon the request of a lender.

A credit report is a report generated by a credit reference bureau containing detailed information on a person (natural or legal) credit history. The information on the report include; Identification details (bio data name, ID, marital status, email, Cell phone) ,employment details, credit performance (non performing account, performing account with default history, performing account without default history),inquiries and bounced cheques.

Credit reference bureau receive   credit information of customers on a monthly basis from the lenders. As per CRB Regulation 2013,Banks are mandated to send data to all licenced credit reference bureau on a monthly basis. Other institutions (Non-Banks) are bound by the contract they sign with the credit reference bureau to send data on a monthly basis.

No: Customers cannot share their credit information directly with the bureau. This must be done by lenders. Nevertheless the customer can ask the institution he/she has borrowed from to share his credit information with the CRB.Customers are also encouraged to access their credit report to ascertain the accuracy of the information on their credit report.

A Credit report is FREE every calendar year and 30 days after being barred from getting a loan due to a listing by the CRB.

You can access your credit report by sending an email to creditbureau@metropol.co.ke or dial *433# from your Safaricom line and follow the instructions.

CRB Regulations 2020, mandates banks and microfinance banks to share both negative and positive information of a borrower. This is known us full file information sharing.Non bank institutions share negative information and MUST get customer consent before sharing positive information with the CRB.

The CRB Regulation 2020 provides for a mechanism to correct wrong information appearing on a credit report. This is known as “ the Right to dispute”.

Where the customer knows or has reason to believe that the information contained in the database is inaccurate, erroneous or outdated, the customer may notify the bureau in writing of the information disputed.
 
Within five working days of being informed that the information in a customer’s credit report is disputed, the bureau shall: 
  1. Attach a note to the credit information report, warning that the disputed information is under investigation, and the note shall remain attached to the information until resolution of the dispute.
  2. Notify the institution or credit information provider that supplied the information of the dispute and request confirmation from the institution or credit information provider as to the accuracy of the information.
The bureau shall, within seven days of being informed that credit information is disputed, conduct investigation based on the relevant information provided by the customer, and may contact any person who has furnished information.
 
Where an institution or credit information provider receives a notice of dispute from the bureau it shall, within twenty-one days of receiving the notice, complete all necessary investigations into the disputed information and give all bureaus a notice of resolution, advising whether the disputed information is to be deleted, corrected, or shall remain unchanged.
 
A customer has a right to refer a dispute to an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, a court of law or the Central Bank where the customer feels that a dispute has not been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Negative information includes the following but not limited to

  1. Non performing accounts; ( loan not serviced for 90days)
  2. Dishonour of cheques other than for technical reasons
  3. Proven cases of frauds and forgeries
  4. Receivership, bankruptcies and liquidation
  5. Misappropriation of borrowed fund

The bureau is required to keep non-performing loans until the end of five(5) years .

Below is a summary of a customer’s right in respect to Credit Reference Bureau:

  1. A customer has a right to obtain a free copy of a credit report from the bureau once every calendar year. A credit report can be obtained by visiting our offices or Agents. Alternatively customers can register on our Crystobol application available via: 
    •  USSD *433#
    • Android – Crystobol (Google Play store)
    • Web – https://crystobol.metropol.co.ke 
  2. A customer has a right to dispute information contained in their credit report without being charged.
  3. A customer has the right to obtain a credit score from the bureau. 
  4. A customer has a right to refer a dispute to an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, a court of law or the Central Bank where the customer feels that a dispute has not been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

FAQ