In our letter on credit data in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we welcome the actions that public authorities and bodies at EU, Member-State and international levels have taken to support businesses and households as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also describe the actions that we are undertaking to support fair and responsible lending for consumers, business and society as a whole in these difficult economic times. In particular by:
• enabling lenders to record debt moratoria in a way that does not negatively impact on credit files;
• assisting consumers to navigate the economic consequences of the pandemic, and;
• providing data services to governments as they respond to the crisis.
In the letter, we strongly recommend that the principle of continued full (file) sharing of credit information, including the reporting of information that accurately reflects the payment relief measures that lenders are employing, is supported by European policy-makers. The review of the Consumer Credit Directive (2008/48/EC) and the Mortgage Credit Directive (2014/17/EU), foreseen in 2021 is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to ensure that all necessary, relevant data is made available to lenders for creditworthiness assessment purposes.