CRB listing: the notice a lender must give and how long a listing stays
Banking Regulations, 2020; Digital Credit Providers Regulations, 2022; Central Bank of Kenya · sources read 2 Oct 2026
A lender must warn you in writing or electronically at least 30 days before sending negative information about you to a credit reference bureau (a contract can shorten this, but for digital lenders never below 7 days), and must tell you within 30 days after it has been sent. Once you settle a defaulted loan, the bureau keeps that record for 5 years from the final settlement and must then delete it.
- Deadline
- At least 30 days' notice before negative information is sent to a bureau (or a shorter period in your contract).
- Deadline
- Within 30 days after sending, the lender must tell you your information has been forwarded.
- Deadline
- A settled defaulted loan stays on record for 5 years from the date of final settlement.
- Where
- Your lender first; then the credit reference bureau (TransUnion, Creditinfo or Metropol); the Central Bank of Kenya supervises both
Steps
- If the information is wrong, tell the lender in writing or verbally. It may not send it to a bureau until it has addressed your concern.
- If it was already sent, the lender must alert the bureaus within 5 days and investigate within 14 days.
- You can also dispute the entry with the bureau in writing. Within 5 working days it must mark it as under investigation and ask the lender to confirm.
- If the investigation is not finished within 21 days, the disputed information must be deleted.
Watch out
- Your loan contract can shorten the 30-day notice. For digital lenders it can never be shorter than 7 days.
- No advance notice is needed for positive information, such as loans you are repaying on time.
- After bankruptcy, the record stays until 7 years from your discharge.
Who this covers
- Borrowers of banks and other lenders that share credit information with credit reference bureaus.
- Borrowers of digital (mobile app) lenders licensed by CBK.
- Debts of KSh 1,000 or less may not be reported as negative information at all.
Official sources (3)
- The Banking (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations, 2020 (L.N. 55 of 2020) centralbank.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- The Central Bank of Kenya (Digital Credit Providers) Regulations, 2022 (L.N. 46 of 2022) centralbank.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Press Release: Update on the Credit Information Sharing Framework (11 November 2022) centralbank.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026