CRB Clearance, All you need to know and how to stay safe

November 27, 2020 Majira Media

Mention CRB to any Kenyan and you will notice jitters run in their bodies as if you have summoned some kind of a demon. With the strained financial situation in our country many Kenyans have gone on a borrowing spree thanks to the readily available mobile loan Apps that offer instant soft loans by a click of a button.

According to the latest CRB statistics, the number of Kenyans listed with Credit Reference Bureaus (CRB) has hit 3.2 million, a jump from the 2.7 million who were listed at the bureaus last year.

Financial institution often submits credit status of their clients to CRB. Individuals who have defaulted for a period of more than 90 days are usually blacklisted by the bureau.

There are three major bodies that offer CRB services across the country namely Metropol, TransUnion and Credit Info.

How to Check if you are listed by CRB

To check your CRB status, you will first need to register with either Metropol, TransUnion or Creditinfo to be able to access your CRB report.

How to check your CRB Report with TransUnion

To get your TransUnion report, first download the tranUnion Nipashe App from Google Playstore

Open the TransUnion Nipashe App
Enter your name as it appears on your national ID,
Enter your ID
Enter your phone number
Accept the terms and conditions
Press “Next”
On the TransUnion Nipashe Welcome page that will appear, press “Activate”
An activation code will be send to your phone through SMS.
Enter the activation code you will receive and press “Verify”
Locate a column written “CREDIT REPORT” and press It
Enter your Email and send.
A credit report will be send directly to your Email.
In your Email inbox download and open the report with your ID as your password

Also Read:How To Update Your CRB Status After Making Loan Repayment

How to Check your CRB Report from Creditinfo

Log in to the Creditinfo website
Sign up
Request your credit report
You will receive an email message showing your status
You will also be able to receive a free credit report for a period of 1 year

How to check your Credit report with Metropol

To register with Metropol, Dial *433# on your mobile phone
Choose Credit report option
Follow the prompt and a PIN will be generated for you
After registration dial *433# again and follow the prompt

You can as well first pay the registration fee before dialing *433# to make it easier. To register with Metropol;

Go to lipa na M-Pesa
PayBill: 186644
Account Number: ID Number eg 12234456

Once you have registered and requested for the credit report, a reference number will be send to you.

Log in to the Metropol website and choose Credit Report
Enter your phone number
Enter the reference number you received via text them click log in
A link to download your report will appear.
Click on it to download the report

How to stay safe

In as much as we are borrowing from either banks or mobile money lenders, no one is safe. However, avoiding the negative listing should be the key priority for every borrower. Bay paying your loan on time is the best way to to stay safe away from CRB listing.

One is listed by CRB after defaulting a loan borrowed for a period of 90 days. Should you get listed. pay the loan and seek clearance services.

You can visit any of the CRB offices around you. You can also get a CRB agent to help you in getting your report, Updating your CRB status or making CRB clearance certificate application.