The new Law on Consumer Credit is set to come into force in November, with its implementation bringing significant changes to all those purchasing on instalments. Under the new law, every sales outlet offering instalment credit must hold a licence from the Croatian National Bank (HNB).
The trader must in addition verify the creditworthiness of the customer, that is, the debtor paying for the goods in instalments. The verification will require certain data about the customer and their level of indebtedness. However, the by-law of the HNB, which is to resolve these details, is still in preparation, so many questions remain open.
No concrete response was received from the HNB to any of the questions posed. Among these is the question of whether the data collected in the register of credit obligations (HROK) will be matched with other debt data, and whether the HROK itself will be expanded. The Ministry, meanwhile, reassures that the data will be secure, but the responsibility is passed to the HNB. The level of verification will depend, it is said, on the value of the goods being purchased, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The HNB clarifies that one is purchasing with bank cards, while the other is deferred payment approved by the trader, as in the latter case the trader is the creditor and assumes the risk. Cards are no longer subject to verification, as they have already passed through the bank's verification process.
Within the process of assessing creditworthiness, the trader must clearly state the information and documentation that the consumer is required to provide, which can be independently verified. The assessment of creditworthiness is conducted based on relevant and accurate information about the consumer's income and expenditure, as well as other financial and economic circumstances. These pieces of information must be necessary, proportionate to the nature, duration, and value of the credit, and the risks to the consumer.
The information may include evidence of income or other sources of funds for repayment, information on financial assets and liabilities, or information on other financial obligations. On the market of the Republic of Croatia, there is currently no single credit register. Creditors will be able to access those registers that are available to them in accordance with the applicable conditions for access to such registers.
A by-law is in preparation, by which the HNB will detail the manner in which the process of assessing creditworthiness is to be conducted, depending on the type of product and the business model of individual creditors. It does not follow from the new Law on Consumer Credit that traders, who are simultaneously licensed as creditors by the HNB, will have general access to the bank accounts of citizens, their individual transactions, savings, or other data protected by the rules on bank secrecy and the protection of personal data.
