Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan clarifies credit bureau reporting access rules and five-year retention of credit history data

The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan published an explainer on how banks and microfinance organisations assess borrowers using scoring systems based on credit history data held by credit bureaus, and how individuals can access and verify their credit information. The note distinguishes between Kazakhstan’s two credit bureaus: JSC State Credit Bureau, a state organisation and subsidiary of the National Bank to which banks, microfinance organisations, pawnshops, utilities, telecom operators, collectors and other credit providers must submit data under legislation, and First Credit Bureau LLP, a private company where reporting is voluntary. It also clarifies that credit history records are populated by data providers (including lenders and firms selling goods and services on instalment or credit) rather than by the bureaus themselves, and that institutions may access a potential borrower’s credit history only with the borrower’s written consent. Under Article 14(2) of the Law on Credit Bureaus and the Formation of Credit Histories in the Republic of Kazakhstan, bureaus must retain information for five years from the date they last receive data on the subject, calculated from the date the debt is fully repaid or a dispute is resolved, meaning delinquency information can remain visible for several years and cannot be deleted early if accurate.