Since last March, banks and financial institutions have been obliged to submit details about loans, made to corporate entities, to the Central Credit Register (CCR). The CCR is set to play a very important part in relation to financial loans being awarded in Ireland but what is it and how does it work?

The CCR is a centralised database designed to store specific loan information and is managed by the Central Bank of Ireland.

It collects information on loans (provided each month by banks and other financial lenders) of €500 or more - these can include personal loans, mortgages, overdrafts, business loans etc.

These lenders include Asset Finance Houses, Banks, Credit Unions, licensed Moneylenders, Local Authorities, NAMA and companies that have acquired loan books from Irish financial institutions.

The Central Bank will use information from the CCR to get a more informed idea of various lending trends on a macroeconomic level. For lenders and financial institutions however, the CCR is a resource to be consulted in order to promote more informed credit decisions going forward.

From March 2019, lenders will be required to obtain a CCR report on any company that applies for a loan of €2,000 or more (they may also seek a report on a company if the loan amount is less than €2k but this is not a mandatory requirement).

If your company is required to carry out these CCR checks, CRIF Vision-net.ie offers you the most comprehensive suite of solutions on the market.

Our system allows clients to query CCR and ICB data, as well as the latest CRIF Vision-net.ie credit reports, in seconds. Any query that our system runs on the CCR database leaves a traceable footprint which ensures compliance with the Credit Reporting Act.

To find out more about our CCR reporting features, please contact our compliance specialists on Tel: +353 1 664 1111 or email helpdesk@vision-net.ie today.