New credit monitoring agency off to a good start

The number of entries in the Credit Information Office's (BIK) database of bad debtors has reached 700,000. Company president Wiesław Wyszogrodzki stated that they sell 18,000 reports on potential clients a month, mainly to banks. The information is used to verify the legal and financial status of those applying for a loan. Each report earns BIK one euro. The total indebtedness of all those on BIK's list is almost zł. 4 billion. Apart from the irregular and unreliable payers, the database contains the names of nine million debtors who pay their liabilities regularly. Although not all banks use the services of the office, Wyszogrodzki hopes they will soon subscribe to his services. BIK has already signed contracts with banks that control 85% of the personal loans market. In the next few months, BIK is planning to launch its Economy Information Office (BIG) gathering information about companies in Poland and their clients. (Parkiet, p. 4) J.K.