The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection examines the rules for assessing the creditworthiness of consumers and their impact on the terms of granting loans – the office informed in a press release. – Such a mechanism can be anti -competitive in itself. Because it discourages or even makes conscious consumers looking for the best offers, and entrepreneurs enabled the exchange of information that the consumer in a given period submitted inquiries to other lenders – said UOKiK president Tomasz Chróstny.
– We have been analyzing the rules and conditions for assessing creditworthiness for several months, because we have suspected that the BIK scoring model may limit the competition between banks – he said, cited in a press release, Tomasz Chróstny, president UOKiK
He added that “a rational consumer who wants to obtain the most favorable conditions, e.g. a mortgage, puts credit inquiries in several banks.” – Often, the consumer, however, does not realize that each subsequent query may reduce his point rating in BIK scoring (Credit Information Bureau – ed.), Regardless of whether he has already received a credit decision in one of the banks – he added.
“The mechanism can already be contrary in itself”
According to UOKiK, banks and other lenders assess the ability of every consumer looking for a suitable loan, among others, based on the BIK scoring model. The assessment of credibility in the BIK system is not only based on the history of loan and loan repayment, current debt, number and type of liabilities, but also the frequency and number of credit queries.
This means that credit queries themselves can have a significant impact on the consumer's creditworthiness assessment, regardless of whether he has received a credit decision. At the same time, consumers do not have reliable information about what time the scoring model ceases to take into account earlier queries in the calculation of the borrower's point assessment.
– Such a mechanism can be anti -competitive in itself. Because he discourages or even makes conscious consumers looking for the best offers, and enables entrepreneurs to exchange information that the consumer in a given period submitted inquiries to other lenders – said the President of UOKiK.
“Such action (…) is difficult to explain”
– The mechanisms we analyze can last for years and have very specific consequences – said Chróstny. As an example, he gave a consumer who lodged a complaint to UOKiK. As he explained, he wanted to get acquainted with the proposals, a consolidation loan in various banks. – As a result of submitting queries addressed to BIK by several banks, scoring was significantly reduced within a month. Each subsequent query led to further reduction in the assessment, despite the fact that the consumer in any of the banks received a refusal to grant a loan, and the credit history did not show an arrears in the repayment of liabilities. Such action, when assessing creditworthiness, is difficult to explain and can serve other purposes than only the assessment of financial standing (opinions on the economic and financial situation – ed.) – he added.
As UOKiK explained, the explanatory proceedings are conducted in the case, not against specific entities. If suspicions are confirmed, the President of UOKiK may initiate antitrust proceedings, which may result in a sanction of up to 10 percent. trading in the event of practices limiting competition.
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