With financial institutions like banks, Saccos, HELB, Tala, Branch, M-Pesa among others opting to list loan defaulters on the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), the need to clear one's name for a second loan has been on the rise.
Unknown to most people, clearing one's outstanding debt is no longer enough as one has to get a CRB clearance to regain their borrowing power.
Whether one has previously asked any financial institution for a loan or not, they will require the CRB certificate to affirm to potential lenders that you are a 'good citizen.'
Upon acquiring the clearance, one does need to prove to the lender that they have been cleared since the financial institutions have access to the information.
[caption caption="A bus stage branded with the Safaricom m-shwari service advert"]
[/caption]
If you have not been listed as a defaulter on CRB, getting the report and clearance is relatively easier as all you need to do is tender an application through a registered credit reference bureau in Kenya then pay the required Ksh2,200 to get the certificate.
You are noted to have defaulted on a loan when you breach its payment terms and conditions, for example, defaulting a Mshwari loan is failing to repay on the stipulated date.
If you have defaulted your payments and are listed by the CRB, you may need to first clear the loan with your lender.
Additionally, if it is a bank or a huge loan that you cannot clear in one payment, you will have to visit your local branch and renegotiate with your lender on the new terms of settling the debt.
It is only until you clear your pending defaulted premiums that you will restore your credit score.
Once you have settled your scores with the lender, it normally takes a day or two for your new credit score ratings to reflect on CRB.
Remember that a CRB certificate of clearance is only valid for the day of issuance due to the daily borrower record updates.
CRB has licensed three institutions to disseminate Kenyans credit information including Metropol, Creditinfo and Credit Reference Bureau Africa.
Metropol.
You register by visiting their website metropol.co.ke or metropolcorporation.com or by dialing *433# on your mobile phone for Safaricom customers only.
You will, however, be required to pay a registration fee of Ksh100 after which you will receive a code in form of SMS, you will then use the code to access your report on the website.
Transunion
Whoever decides to get their credit information from TransUnion will be required to visit crbafrica.com or transunionafrica.com where you will fill in the forms and send them back.
For you to always get credit reports from Transunion, all one has to do is send their name to 21272, a message that will cost Ksh50.
Creditinfo
Just like the other two, one has to simply visit creditinfo.co.ke to register and will afterward be getting an annual report on their credit status on your email address.
However, if you have already registered in any of the three CRSs, you can easily request for your clearance certificate from the specific website(s) for free.
[caption caption="Certificate of clearance given by CRB"]
[/caption]
