BIG versus BIK – what are the differences between these institutions? What is a business information bureau and what is a credit information bureau? What are economic and credit information bureaus in Poland?
Business Information Bureau
Economic Information Bureaus, popularly known as BIGs, are institutions whose primary purpose is to process data on various financial obligations of both individuals and businesses. These institutions operate on the basis of the Act of April 9, 2010 on the provision of business information and exchange of business data.
Data in BIGs appear on the basis of entries made by creditors, which can be any natural or legal person who has entered into an agreement with a given business information bureau. BIGs usually receive information about unpaid obligations, but they can also include information about obligations that are paid on time.
The purpose of BIGs is, among other things, to “warn” other market participants of dishonest, unpaid or insolvent counterparties, and at the same time to sort of “force” debtors to settle overdue obligations. With a negative entry in one of the business information bureaus, taking on a new obligation or concluding a contract, can be much more difficult.
What are the Economic Information Offices in Poland?
There are several business information bureaus in Poland, which are based on the Act of April 9, 2010 on providing access to business information and exchange of business data. These include KRD, or Krajowy Rejestr Długów, ERIF, BIG Infomonitor closely related to the Credit Information Bureau, Krajowe Biuro Informacji Gospodarczej S.A. (National Economic Information Bureau) and Krajowa Informacja Długów Telekomunikacyjnych Biuro Informacji Gospodarczej SA.
Each of these institutions is an independent company whose purpose is to process data on various liabilities, but most of them provide services to various entities. In practice, therefore, you can end up in most of them even with only one unpaid debt.
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National Debt Register
By far the most well-known Polish business information bureau. The company was established in 2003 and has processed millions of unpaid debts to date. According to recent data, Krajowy Rejestr Długów has helped recover some 95 billion zlotys, an absolute record among all business information bureaus in Poland.
ERIF
Another, although much less well-known, entity that processes debtors’ data is ERIF Economic Information Bureau. This company was also established in 2003 on the basis of the Act of April 9, 2010 on sharing business information and exchanging business data.
ERIF’s goal, like any bureau of this type, is to process information on unpaid debts of both individuals and businesses.
BIG Infomonitor
A rather interesting business information bureau is BIG Infomonitor, whose main shareholder is the Credit Information Bureau – an institution that all borrowers fear like hell. This is because it processes data on liabilities incurred in banks and SKOKs, but about that in a moment.
BIG Infomonitor was set up by several large Polish companies, including PKO Bank Polski. Like any “debtor database,” it operates under the Act of April 9, 2010 on providing access to business information and exchanging business data.
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The “BIK report”, familiar to all borrowers, also includes information about possible debts placed in BIG Infomonitor. Interestingly, this institution also cooperates with other BIGs, which can effectively prevent a new commitment.
Credit Information Bureau (BIK)
The BIK, or Credit Information Bureau, is a completely different type of institution from the BIGs, as it was established for the sole purpose of processing data relating solely to obligations arising from contracts concluded between companies or the public and financial institutions (banks and SKOKs).
Unlike BIGs, therefore, BIK does not process data on, for example, unpaid loans with private individuals, unpaid fines or unpaid invoices for electricity, internet or other utilities.
All, literally all credit obligations go to the Credit Information Bureau, and this happens in a completely automatic way. Immediately after the conclusion of a credit agreement, the loan data, amount, repayment term, number of installments and others will appear in the BIK and will be there for a minimum of 5 years from the date of full repayment of the contracted obligation.
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Importantly, the BIK will show any, even the smallest delay in the repayment of even a single installment, which significantly distinguishes this institution from classic BIGs, which usually receive only unpaid / overdue obligations.
In addition to the information itself on new and active or also unpaid credit obligations, the BIK also includes information on all credit inquiries based on the PESEL number. All this information affects the so-called BIK score, which you will read more extensively in this post: How to build a good BIK score?
