How To Check Your CRB Listing In Kenya
Millions of Kenyans are listed with different Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) for defaulting loans from financial institutions.
Some of these people know about it, while a better chunk do not know about the listing. Recently, it was reported that over 500,000 Kenyans listed by various CRBs owe less than 200 shillings.
All the ‘victims’ took their loans from mobile loan apps, which have become popular across Kenya’s middle and low class income earners population. Most of them are youths between the age of 18 to 24 years.
Currently, there are over 500 mobile loan lenders who issue micro-loans to Kenyans, defined by short repayment period and high interests.
In Kenya, there are three licensed CRB companies which including TransUnion, Metropol and CreditInfo.
In order to check his or her status, one needs to register with one of the three CRBs or all.
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You can access CRB services from Metropol through Metropol website, metropol crystobol app or by dialling*433#.
On Metropol, you can follow the steps below to register and access your credit status:-
- You will Pay Ksh100 as registration fee through the Paybill Number 220388. Enter your ID number as the account number.
- You will get an SMS with your unique PIN details, a Reference Number and a special link to access Metropol CRB services
- After paying the registration fee, now you will be allowed to check your CRB status
- You can choose to dial *433# and enter PIN and you’ll get your listing status through an SMS.
- You can choose to use the Metropol Crystobol app. Log in and view you CRB status.
A part from a one free credit report in a year, you can pay Ksh100 to get one anytime. Metropol gives a score between 200 and 900. A score below 400 will mean you are a defaulter and a lender cannot give you loan facilities.
Any score above 400 will mean fair and lenders will give you loan facilities with a lot of caution. A good credit score is any score near 900 and lenders will give you cheap loans.
To get a credit report, you pay Ksh250.
“This is a detailed report on how you interact with financial institutions,” says Katana, a financial expert.
To know which lender had you listed on CRB, you pay Ksh50.
To get a clearance certificate from CRB after settling all your debts you pay Ksh2, 200.
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For TransUnion,
- Send your full names to 21272.
- Enter your ID number.
- Choose Credit Status (CC).
- Receive your CRB status. Good will that you are not blacklisted, while default will mean a negative status; you are blacklisted.
You are entitled to one free credit report (CR) annually.
However, if you have exhausted that one free opportunity, you will be required to pay Ksh650 to Paybill number 212121, and your account number should be your identity card number.
To get a clearance certificate, you will be required to pay Ksh2, 200 to Paybill number 212121 and enter your ID number as the account number.
You will, thereafter, need to register on TransUnion website using an email address.
After paying the Ksh2, 200 fee and successfully registering an email address, you are free to claim your certificate by sending your Mpesa message to cert@transunion.co.ke
CreditInfo works through email, and their charges are not so clear.
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