Loans are among the financial services widely sought by the public, but granting them requires careful assessment and analysis, with banks relying on information from credit reference bureaus before making lending decisions.
TransUnion Rwanda currently holds credit-related information on more than 4.3 million people in Rwanda, with its coverage having increased by 85% over the past five years as more people accessed credit services.
Credit Reference Bureaus, commonly known as CRBs, collect borrowing information and make it available to authorised institutions when decisions on lending are being made. The information helps lenders understand a customer’s previous borrowing and repayment record before extending new credit.
In Rwanda, the service has been managed by TransUnion Rwanda since 2016 following the acquisition of CRB Holdings, whose local operation had been known as CRB Africa-Rwanda.
Credit information had previously been managed by the National Bank of Rwanda before regulatory changes allowed the service to be handled independently from 2010.
TransUnion Rwanda Managing Director Didier Mutabazi said joining a larger international network had brought opportunities to improve operations through shared experience.
“When you are part of a large institution operating globally, there is a lot you gain from sharing experience and different ways of working,” he said.
Although TransUnion operates in more than 30 countries, information collected in Rwanda remains governed by local laws and is not shared across countries simply because the company operates internationally.
Mutabazi explained that financial institutions examine a customer’s borrowing and repayment history before approving new credit, helping them assess whether the applicant can manage the loan and repay it as agreed.
For individuals, the information includes their borrowing history and how previous loans were repaid. Similar records are maintained for companies that have taken credit.
Financial institutions regularly submit loan information electronically to TransUnion Rwanda, where it is updated and compiled into reports that can be accessed by authorised users.
“There is a technology system through which our clients provide us with that information, and we then produce reports that can be provided to everyone authorised to access them,” Mutabazi said.
This allows a bank or another lender considering a new application to see how a customer has managed credit obtained from other financial institutions.
Individuals can also access their own credit information, including through *707#, and can request corrections if they find information they believe is inaccurate.
TransUnion Rwanda provides one credit report free of charge each year to anyone requesting their own information. Further requests within the same year are charged.
The company said more than 90% of people who had borrowed money were repaying their loans properly.
Figures from the National Bank of Rwanda showed that non-performing loans stood at 3.0% in August 2026, a level below 5%.
Mutabazi said good repayment performance gives financial institutions greater room to continue lending to customers.
“When most loans in a country are repaid properly, it helps financial institutions provide more credit to their customers, enabling them to develop themselves and contributing to the country’s economy in general,” he said.
Failure to meet agreed repayment terms can affect a borrower’s credit record. In cases where a borrower stops repaying altogether, the loan may be treated as a default and recorded as a loss by the lender.
A poor credit history can also make it more difficult for someone to obtain another loan in future, even where an earlier debt is eventually settled.
TransUnion Rwanda receives information from commercial banks, microfinance institutions and SACCOs, as well as insurance companies, telecommunications firms and other institutions that provide credit-related services.
The company is also considering expanding the information used in credit assessments to include mobile money transactions.
Mutabazi said this could help people who regularly use mobile money services but have little or no borrowing history, allowing their transaction activity to be considered when they later apply for bank credit.
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