Banks face fines for locking out blacklisted borrowers
Banks, saccos and micro-finance lenders now face a fine of Sh2 million for every defaulter they deny loans to for being listed negatively with the country’s credit reference bureaus (CRBs).
This new regulation represents a fresh attempt to unlock credit to firms and workers hard hit by effects of coronavirus pandemic.
DENYING DEFAULTERS LOANS
The Treasury has introduced the fine in regulations aimed at cleaning up the CRBs blacklist and enhancing borrowers’ chances of being able to borrow more.
Banks and saccos have been reluctant to offer loans to the more than 2.5 million Kenyans that have been negatively listed with the CRBs.
Introduction of penalties to curb the practice of denying defaulters loans comes in a period when the government expects lenders to boost the cash flow of workers and firms battered by the effects of Covid-19 pandemic. Kenya has reported 887 positive cases and 50 deaths.
The virus has triggered job cuts and hit firms’ sales on low demand for their products and services, forcing households and companies to seek loans in their struggle to remain afloat.
“An institution that denies a customer a credit facility or any other financial service solely on the basis of a credit score shall be liable to a monetary penalty of two million shillings or such other sanctions under the Act, the Microfinance Act, 2006, or the Sacco Societies Act, 2008, as the Central Bank may impose,” says Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani in the new CRB regulations.
Lenders can only reject a loan application due to other factors beyond credit scores earned via CRB listing. They will be expected to inform borrowers by writing about the reasons behind the rejection of their loan application.
RISKS OF LENDING
Credit reference bureaus were established in 2010 to help banks gauge the risks of lending, which in turn were meant to help lower the cost of credit for consumers. So far, though, they have not done much to reduce rates and instead the CRBs have been used to punish defaulting or blacklisted borrowers.
“The score should not be a basis for you being denied; it should be a basis for banks to be able to price the risk,” said Habil Olaka, CEO of Kenya Bankers Association — the bankers’ lobby group.
“People have been denied a credit facility for being listed with CRBs, which is the kind of abuse they are trying to address. That is why the unregulated digital lenders have been kicked out,” he said.
Under the new rules, the Central Bank of Kenya has stopped unregulated digital mobile lenders from forwarding defaulters’ names to CRBs.
CBK said that disconnecting unregulated digital mobile lenders from CRB was linked to a public outcry over widespread misuse of the credit information sharing (CIS) mechanism.
This means only banks as well as micro financiers and deposit-taking saccos will be allowed to blacklist defaulters, locking out firms like Tala and Branch.
Commercial banks, regulated digital lenders and saccos have also been barred from listing defaulters who borrowed less than Sh1,000 or have been unable to clear balances that are less than the set amount.