What does BIK know about us?

Everyone who has ever applied for a loan knows that banks and other financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of their clients, among others based on information obtained from BIK. This assessment determines whether the loan applicant will get it or not. So what secret information does all this "BIK" have about us and why for many people the slogan "quick loan without BIK" is extremely tempting? Who can have access to all data collected by this institution?

BIK, i.e. the Credit Information Bureau

The Credit Information Bureau is an institution established in 1997 by the Polish Bank Association under the Banking Act. The main task of BIK is to collect, store and process information about liabilities and history of liabilities of commercial bank customers and the so-called Credit Unions (i.e. Cooperative Savings and Credit Unions).

On the basis of reciprocity, banks and credit unions download data from the BIK database to more accurately determine whether a potential customer is capable of timely repayment of the loan. Therefore, it is said that the Bureau fulfills a social role as it prevents excessive indebtedness of the bank's clients and supports responsible lending.

When do we appear in BIK?

Information about clients of financial institutions is sent to BIK when they submit a loan application and after making a commitment at SKOK or a bank. The collected data is updated at least once a month until the end of the loan or credit repayment.

What information is collected by BIK?

BIK collects data on clients of the aforementioned financial institutions. Importantly, this applies to both individual clients and entrepreneurs. At this point, it should be noted that BIK uses the highest standards of data collection and processing and operates on the basis of restrictive provisions - the Banking Law and the Personal Data Protection Act.

The Credit Information Bureau collects information on:

• clients' personal data,

• liabilities to banks and credit unions, such as: date of creation and type of liability, repayment period, currency, timely repayments,

• debt,

• all credit accounts kept by banks and credit unions.

When does BIK stop processing the borrower's data?

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In the event that the borrower is "clean", ie he pays all his obligations on time, information about him is processed until the liability expires. Providing information by BIK in such a situation requires the bank's customer's written consent to the processing of data by BIK in order to certify a positive credit history.

The situation is different with customers who do not pay their liabilities. If 30 days have passed since the debtor was informed by the bank or SKOK about the amount of his debt, and the amount of arrears has not been settled, BIK has the right to process the data of such a client for a period of five years.

In addition, under the amendment to the Banking Law Act, data on the liabilities of all customers may be processed in BIK for a period of 12 years from the date of expiry of the liability, for purposes related to the use of statistical methods by banks. Data processing for this purpose does not require customer consent.

As you can see - BIK stores both positive and negative data on clients of financial institutions. Therefore, in the case of borrowers with an "unclean" history, advertising slogans informing about loans without consulting the Credit Information Bureau may be so tempting - in this case there is rather little chance that the bank will issue a positive decision. Customers who have not had and do not have arrears with financial institutions do not have to be afraid of the data collected by BIK, and they can even become a bargaining chip in negotiations with the bank.

Who has access to the data collected by BIK?

The data collected by the Credit Information Bureau has access to authorized institutions, such as the prosecutor's office, courts, banks and credit unions cooperating with BIK on the basis of reciprocity. This means that the last two can send an inquiry to the Bureau only if they regularly provide BIK with information about their clients' obligations.

With the consent of the data subject, the information collected by BIK may also be transferred to financial entities outside the banking sector.

Moreover, the customers themselves, whose data is collected, may also request access to them. In accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act, they have the right to do so no more than once every 6 months.