What does the Central Credit Register consist of?
The CCR collects on a monthly basis and stores granular data about any form of credit equal to or exceeding the amounts of EUR 5,000 (per creditor and per debtor) for legal Persons and EUR 2,000 (per creditor and per debtor) for natural persons and sole proprietorships.
The different types of credit on which data are collected include, among other things, housing, consumer and business loans, leasing and factoring contracts, as well as the collateral provided for them. The CCR ensures data confidentiality, while providing modern digital information services.
Who provides the data?
The data held in the CCR are drawn exclusively from the monthly reporting of creditors, which comprise all credit and, in general, financial institutions that have their registered office in Greece (including their branches abroad), as well as the branches of foreign credit or financial institutions operating in Greece.
An indicative but non-exhaustive list of creditors with reporting obligations to the CCR is provided below:
• Credit institutions established in Greece;
• Branches in Greece of credit institutions established abroad;
• Credit servicing firms;
• Credit companies;
• Factoring companies;
• Leasing companies;
• Card issuing and management companies;
• Credit agencies;
• Microfinance institutions;
• Payment institutions;
• E-money institutions;
• Other financial institutions.
At the same time, the necessary identification information as well as general information on debtors are cross-checked against data drawn from government entities, such as the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR), the General Commercial Register (G.E.MI.) and the ERGANI information system.
Relevant documentation
How does it work?
Creditors report on a monthly basis to the Bank of Greece data about natural and legal persons or sole proprietorships within the framework specified by law and the relevant Bank of Greece Governor’s Acts.
The data transmitted by creditors to the CCR undergo a series of automated technical validity and completeness checks, after the successful completion of which they are stored in an encrypted form and for a period of ten (10) years in the CCR’s database held at the Bank of Greece.
After the 10-year period has lapsed, they are kept in an anonymised form, which does not allow the identification of debtors, for economic analysis and statistical research purposes.
The CCR gives debtors and creditors the possibility to access its data through the provision of credit reports, which are produced following submission of a relevant online application.
Why is the Central Credit Register important?
The aim of the CCR is to enhance the financing of the real economy by the Greek financial system and to safeguard financial stability by improving the quality of available information, thereby enabling a more rational assessment of the creditworthiness of potential debtors and, generally, contributing to more informed decision-making in relation to credit granting. At the same time, the operation of the CCR promotes the objectives of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and supports the supervisory functions of the Bank of Greece and of the European Central Bank (ECB).
By obtaining a credit report and accessing their credit data, debtors are given an overview of their credit status and exposure to all creditors reporting data to the CCR.
Creditors that are connected to the CCR use the data made available to them in order to improve the quality and completeness of credit information about debtors with whom they have signed or are about to sign a credit agreement, thus enhancing their credit risk assessment and management capabilities.
The role of the Bank of Greece
The Bank of Greece, as the central bank of the country, is responsible by law for the design, development, management and smooth operation of the CCR, while acting as its sole data controller, thus supporting its obligations and functions in supervising the financial sector and safeguarding financial stability in Greece.
The CCR project was implemented by the Bank of Greece and co-financed by the European Union (NextGenerationEU), in the context of the action for strengthening the capacity of the financial system to overcome legacy challenges and to finance the real economy.
The Bank of Greece keeps data in a manner that safeguards data integrity, confidentiality and availability, compliance with personal data protection legislation, as well as the seamless operation of the CCR.
At the same time, both the Bank of Greece, as a member of the Eurosystem, and the European Central Bank (ECB) use CCR services to the extent necessary for carrying out their tasks, especially as regards the supervision of the financial system, the conduct of monetary policy and the collection of statistics.
Read more about the broader role and the tasks of the Bank of Greece.