How to check your credit history

According to the law, once a calendar year, every citizen of Kazakhstan can find out his credit history for free. Upon repeated request within one calendar year, the cost of the service is 400 tenge.

At the moment, we recommend using one of the following methods of obtaining the service online:

• Through the site of First Credit Bureau or mobile application the 1CB.kz (EDS required);
• Through the online service of the eGov.kz electronic government portal. Fill out the application, sign with an electronic digital signature and you will be able to see the result in your "Personal Account".

In offline mode, the service is provided upon presentation of an identity card:

• In the branches of NJSC GK "Government for Citizens";
• In the offices of Kazpost JSC.

Credit history is important not only for lending organizations, but also for you. Having a positive history, you can easily take out a loan for a large amount. And vice versa if you did not pay in a timely manner  or stopped paying on past loans at all, then the bank/MFO may not approve the loan. If you have never taken out a loan, then there will be no records in your credit history.

When applying for a loan, creditors request data from credit bureaus. For example, you took out a loan and repaid it right on time. This information is recorded in your credit history. Later, you apply for a loan at another bank, which sees that you repaid the previous loan on time, and perceives you as a responsible client. Any creditor wants to be sure of the return of the issued funds and lend to reliable people. This is why it is important to keep track of your credit history.

Question No.1. Does a credit report reflect the receipt of deferred payments on loans and social benefits?

No, deferred payments on the bank loans and microloans, as well as social assistance for citizens who have lost income due to the introduction of the emergency state and quarantine, are not the grounds for deterioration of the borrower's credit history.

Issues of granting a loan are resolved by second-tier banks independently, based on capabilities of the borrower and the bank's credit policy. In accordance with Law "On State Regulation, Control and Supervision of Financial Market and Financial Organizations", the authorized body is not entitled to interfere in activities of the financial organizations, with the exception of cases stipulated by legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Question No. 2. Can the banks deny issuing a loan if the credit history has “deteriorated”?

Yes, they can. The most common reason for loan denial, which is reflected in the credit history. The credit history is the borrower’s file, which contains records of your credit obligations. When did you apply for a loan and for what amount? Did you pay on time or with a delay? Have you applied for loans to the other banks? Were you a co-borrower or guarantor? All this is entered into the credit history database. When applying for a loan, the bank requests information about a potential client from credit bureaus.

By the way, you may also be denied in receiving a loan if there are unpaid fines, alimony arrears, tax arrears, etc.

Question No. 3. How do banks decide to issue a loan?

Before deciding to issue a loan, banks assess financial condition of a potential borrower to determine his creditworthiness, solvency, and financial stability. Also, banks assess stability and size of the clients' income holistically. It is important for borrowers to have official income, the continuity of pension contributions over the past six months, the absence of other negative information found as a result of check-up of the borrower, availability of collateral, etc.

Banks also calculate the client's debt burden. If the total income of the client, taking into account a debt burden, is not enough to make payments on loans, n automated scoring system denies to issue a loan.

Question No. 4. Where can I refer to about the bank's denial to issue a loan?

On the issue of loan denial, potential borrowers should contact second-tier banks for advice and clarifications. If the bank denied considering your appeal and the dialogue with the bank turned out to be ineffective, you can contact the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Financial Market Regulation and Development:

• in writing to the Agency at the address: А15С9Т5, Almaty, 21, microdistrict “Koktem-3”;
• by e-mail: TAL@finreg.kz, info@finreg.kz; 
• via the mobile application "Fingramota Online" (download links in the App Store, in the Play Market, the web version is also available);
• via the electronic form of the "Feedback" section on the websites finreg.kz and www.fingramota.kz;

to the Office of Regional Representatives of the Agency based on by territorial affiliation.

Question No. 5. How long is credit history stored? 

In accordance with the Law "On credit bureaus and formation of credit histories in the Republic of Kazakhstan", a credit bureau ensures the storage of information in relation to the subject of credit history for 5 years after the date of receipt of the latest information about it. The borrowers' credit histories is not allowed to be destroyed.

Question No. 6. Can negative credit history be adjusted?

You can improve your credit history. Such an opportunity has appeared not so long ago for borrowers with overdue loans.

The credit bureau can assign a loan (bank loan or microloan) for which there was or is overdue debt for more than 90 days, the status "rehabilitated". This happens in the following cases:

• upon expiration of 12 calendar months after the repayment of the loan debt. For example, if the borrower, as of January 1, 2023, has fully repaid the loan debt, then as of January 1, 2024, the credit bureau must assign the loan the “rehabilitated” status;
• if there are no delinquencies for more than 30 calendar days after restructuring or refinancing of the loan during the last 12 consecutive calendar months, under the condition that the loan is repaid for more than 50% of the amount owed on the date of restructuring or refinancing.
• for example, if the total loan amount is 500 thousand tenge and the borrower repaid more than 250 thousand tenge before January 1, 2023 (January 1, 2023 is the date of restructuring and refinancing), while during 2023 the borrower did not allow delays for more than 30 calendar days , then as of January 1, 2024, the credit bureau must assign the loan the status "rehabilitated";
• in the absence of delinquencies over 30 calendar days during the last 12 consecutive calendar months, once the 90 calendar days overdue debt is repaid. For example, if the borrower, as of January 1, 2023, repaid the overdue loan debt and during 2023 did not allow delinquencies for more than 30 calendar days, then as of January 1, 2024, the credit bureau must assign the loan the “rehabilitated” status. However, it should be borne in mind that the assignment of the status "rehabilitated" does not guarantee the borrower to receive a new loan, since the days of delay remain in the credit history and are not deleted even when the status "rehabilitated" is assigned. The credit history can be improved by improving the payment discipline for the remaining loans. 

Question No.7. Can negative information be removed from credit history? Should you trust the organizations offering this service?

If someone offers you to "improve" your credit history for a fee or remove negative information from your personal credit report, do not believe it as they are scammers! There are times when fraudsters take loans using someone else's documents. Therefore, we recommend checking your credit history once a year, even in the absence of the loans.

By the way, according to the law, once a calendar year, every citizen of Kazakhstan can get their credit history for free: in a credit bureau, there are two of them: the State Credit Bureau and the First Credit Bureau.  

If you received a credit report and found incorrect information in it, please report it to the bank/MFO and attach supporting documents.

You can also dispute information in your credit history through a separate free online service of the First Credit Bureau on the 1cb.kz or fingramota.kz portal.

Through this service, you can protest disputed information based on the previously generated personal credit report. As a result, within 15 working days you will receive a letter about the changes made and a corrected personal credit report or a letter about correctness of the information reflected in the current personal report.