If you have applied for or had a loan in any usual banking institution, surely you have heard and know the CIRBE term. Today we want to talk to you in depth about what is CIRBE and what is it for when applying for a loan and even a mortgage. We clarify, and we will do it throughout the article, that CIRBE is not a list of defaulters like ASNEF isAlthough both are widely used by banks, their use is very different from each other.
CIRBE helps institutions to decide and better understand who is requesting the loan, referring to their credit history.
What is CIRBE?
CIRBE is the Risk Information Center of the Bank of Spain, and it has been operating in Spain since 1972, mainly to banks, but many alternative financial institutions also use it, although not so rigidly.
CIRBE is a database, as is, for example, ASNEF, fed with the financial information of the banks, and managed and controlled by the Bank of Spain itself.
The list is public, but of a private nature, that is, anyone can have access to the information on the list, but upon prior request for access. Later we will show you how to request it.
The list is fed monthly by all institutions, and the data of all loans over € 6000 are recorded.
In the list, you will be able to see all the outstanding loans that people have, giving an idea of the history and debt capacity of the person applying for the loan. Information on guarantees, credits (not just loans), and risks in general that financial institutions have with their clients are also listed.
In summary, CIRBE is the record of the information that financial institutions have about you.
Let's give an example: If you are the holder of a mortgage, CIRBE will list that loan, your name, your tax identification number and the amount of the debt at the end of each month. And that with each loan or movement that you make over € 6000.
CIRBE has two clear objectives:
- Provide information to entities about their clients' debt and payment capacity.
- Provide the Bank of Spain with information and the capacity to supervise and inspect the operation of all credit institutions operating in Spain.
How does CIRBE work?
As a database that it is, CIRBE must be constantly fed so that its usefulness continues to be maximum, that is why entities are obliged to send the information every month, all the practices of their activities, holders, with their data, characteristics and circumstances.
As we have said before, the operations that are made are equal to or greater than € 6000.
The companies that must send your information are:
- Benches
- Savings savings
- Credit cooperatives
- ICO
- Branches in Spain of foreign entities
- Guarantee funds
The information will help entities to understand the risk in their operations.
What is the difference between CIRBE and ASNEF?
Many people believe that CIRBE is another list of defaulters like ASNEF, and nothing close to reality.
CIRBE is a database where the risks of credit institutions are collected, starting at € 6000, regardless of whether or not the operations are pending payments.
The delinquency information must be notified, but to databases such as Financial Credit Institutions.
CIRBE only controls risk information so that entities can better decide and evaluate the payment capacity of their clients, although they can support it with inquiries to ASNEF or similar lists.
Can credit institutions access my information without permission?
In short, yes. But there are nuances.
When you apply for a loan, the Law allows the entity to which you request it to be able to access the information you have in CIRBE, without the need for me to ask your permission to do so.
Of course, the entity is obliged to inform you of the right it has to do so, without meaning that you can refuse or not, it is simply a written notification.
How to access your data in CIRBE
As we have said before, the database is private, although public, which means that any natural or legal person can access the information.
We remind you that access is free, and not only can you consult it, but you have the right to correct information that you find wrong, you can also know which entities have accessed your information in the last six months.
How? The Bank of Spain has opened three channels for this:
- Through the Virtual Office of the Bank of Spain, for this it is necessary to have a DNIe and the device to work on your computer. In addition, you need the digital certificate from the National Currency and Stamp Factory.
- Personally, you can go to the CIRBE offices at the Bank of Spain, located at Calle de Alcalá 48 in Madrid, having to present your current and updated DNI or NIE.
- By letter (yes, the letters are still used), sending the request to the address:
Bank of Spain
Risk Information Center
Alcala Street 48
28014, Madrid
The letter must be signed, with a photocopy of both sides of your NIE or NIE, and the address for them to send you the answer by certified mail.
What risks does CIRBE consider as such?
So far we have talked about the constant record that CIRBE makes of all the financial information of Spanish citizens, but what is a credit risk?
A credit risk is the possibility of an adverse event, in this case, the default on a loan.
Imagine that you ask an entity for the money for your car, and it is granted to you. You have bought the car with the money from the bank that you must return in installments of € 200 per month for 10 years, for example.
What is the risk? That you simply do not pay such a loan every month and therefore, the entity does not get its money, the risk would be the total amount of the debt.
There are two types of risk that CIRBE handles:
- Direct risk: They are originated by loans or credits and fixed income securities.
- Indirect risks: Those incurred by endorsing or guaranteeing their loans or credits to third parties (the minimum amount for indirect risks is € 30.000)
How does CIRBE affect my loan application?
Banks use all the information to decide whether or not to grant a loan, or the amount they can risk when granting it.
If you do not appear in CIRBE, it means that the bank does not have tools to know the risk, or rather, your debt capacity, which many of us know as "credit history"
Appearing in CIRBE is not bad, in fact, it is inevitable to appear if you have applied for loans or credits greater than € 6000, the problem is how to appear in CIRBE.
While CIRBE is not a list of defaulters to use, Yes, it can affect you having a lot of debts, late payments or the annotation of defaults on any of your debts.
Remember, however, that, in this file, there are no details of anything, only the debt, your name and the type of debt.
Recommendations
Although you do not have control over the information that exists about you in CIRBE, you can do things to benefit from this public database and avoid problems or closure of access to credit in the future.
Therefore, we give you some advices:
- On many occasions, financial entities ask applicants directly if they have debts or loans with other entities. Never lie, not even with the excuse of having forgotten or confused the information. Be honest, anyway, they will review the file and know if you are lying or not.
- Periodically review the information in your file in CIRBE: you will be able to see the information that every credit institution sees about you, and also, you can quickly detect any erroneous information, in order to be able to request its immediate correction from CIRBE or the Bank of Spain.
- Check the ASNEF or similar lists, it may be that the loan is rejected, not because of the CIRBE information, but because of a default of less than € 6000, which is registered in the delinquent file.
- Make a detailed record of your debts, of what you pay, have paid and have pending to pay, with the data of who your creditor is and the origin of the debt. For example: Car loan, € 12.000, I have paid € 6500, due date 2020, € 215 per month, to Bank XYZ.
- Avoid at all costs falling into over-indebtedness, that is, that your debt payments represent an important part of your income. Many experts say that it should not exceed 40% of your income. Each bank does its studies and with the information from CIRBE and your payroll, they will know how indebted you are and if you can take on a new debt.
These tips will help you take surprises when applying for your loan, and everything is related to the use that credit institutions make of the enormous information that CIRBE offers to all.