Czech lenders can be fined 4M CZK for not checking that borrowers can afford to repay. A bill would extend the check to shoppers who pay later.

Some lenders take borrowers at their word on what they spend, and non-bank lenders were fined 19M CZK last year.2 sourcesČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — supervision report 2025 (another site)The central bank supervised 73 non-bank lenders in 2025, found less serious systemic shortcomings in how lenders that finance goods in shops verify income, debts and expenses, fined non-bank lenders 19M CZK…Statistic · ČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — 4M CZK fine for unchecked incomes and expenses (another site)A central-bank decision fining a consumer lender 4M CZK: its goods and car financing could be granted without proof of income, it took expenses from flat amounts or the borrower's own figures, and it did not…Complaint · From February 2027 a bill would add the check when shoppers pay in instalments or in one payment later.2 sourcespsp.czSněmovní tisk 145 — the Czech consumer-credit amendment (another site)The Czech bill that brings in the EU rules: the government sent it to the lower house on 25 March 2026, and the house passed it in third reading on 11 September 2026; it had not yet reached the Senate.Regulation · mf.gov.czFinance ministry — the lower house passes the consumer-credit bill (another site)The ministry expects the law to take effect on 1 February 2027; shops selling on interest-free instalments up to about 50,000 CZK get a simpler check that can pull income and expense data from employers'…Regulation ·

Good for Someone who knows credit risk and bank data and can sell to lenders.

Category
Fintech
Entry
Moderate
Verified

The opportunity

2/2 · Clear, recurring pain

Czech lenders must check that a borrower can repay, and the central bank keeps finding lenders that skip part of the check.2 sourcesČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — supervision report 2025 (another site)The central bank supervised 73 non-bank lenders in 2025, found less serious systemic shortcomings in how lenders that finance goods in shops verify income, debts and expenses, fined non-bank lenders 19M CZK…Statistic · ČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — 4M CZK fine for unchecked incomes and expenses (another site)A central-bank decision fining a consumer lender 4M CZK: its goods and car financing could be granted without proof of income, it took expenses from flat amounts or the borrower's own figures, and it did not…Complaint ·

  • One lender was fined 4M CZK for taking expenses on the borrower's word.ČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — 4M CZK fine for unchecked incomes and expenses (another site)A central-bank decision fining a consumer lender 4M CZK: its goods and car financing could be granted without proof of income, it took expenses from flat amounts or the borrower's own figures, and it did not check declared expenses even when it held the bank statement.Complaint ·
  • Complaints to non-bank lenders rose over 70% in a year.ČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — supervision report 2025 (another site)The central bank supervised 73 non-bank lenders in 2025, found less serious systemic shortcomings in how lenders that finance goods in shops verify income, debts and expenses, fined non-bank lenders 19M CZK in ten final decisions, and saw their complaints rise over 70% in a year.Statistic ·
  • The financial arbiter traces loan disputes above all to weak checks.finarbitr.gov.czFinancial arbiter — annual report 2025 (another site)The state's out-of-court forum for financial disputes opened 12,050 cases in 2025, 11,386 of them about consumer credit, and names systemic problems above all in how lenders check that borrowers can repay.Complaint ·

Suggested solution

Build a service that reads a borrower's bank transactions, with consent, and gives the lender a documented check that the borrower can afford to repay, as 2 companies already do in 2 other countries.

  1. Borrower. Today: Declares income and expenses on the application. With the suggested solution: Shares bank data with consent instead.
  2. Lender. Today: Uses declared or flat-rate expenses. With the suggested solution: Reads expenses from the bank transactions.
  3. Lender's staff. Today: Leaves declared expenses unchecked against statements. With the suggested solution: Reviews only the items software flags.
  4. Who does this is not known. Today: How the check is kept for later disputes is not known. With the suggested solution: Keeps each check as evidence for disputes.

Not known: how the check is kept for later disputes.

Why now

1/3 · Soft deadline

Firms that let shoppers pay later, and shops selling on interest-free instalments, must run the same check once the Senate passes the bill.2 sourcespsp.czSněmovní tisk 145 — the Czech consumer-credit amendment (another site)The Czech bill that brings in the EU rules: the government sent it to the lower house on 25 March 2026, and the house passed it in third reading on 11 September 2026; it had not yet reached the Senate.Regulation · mf.gov.czFinance ministry — the lower house passes the consumer-credit bill (another site)The ministry expects the law to take effect on 1 February 2027; shops selling on interest-free instalments up to about 50,000 CZK get a simpler check that can pull income and expense data from employers'…Regulation ·

  • Pay-later firms need a central-bank licence and a full check on every buyer.danovky.czKPMG — pay-later shopping becomes a full consumer loan (another site)A note from the accounting firm KPMG: every pay-later product where a firm other than the shop lends the money falls under the full consumer-credit law, with a check on each buyer that they can repay and a licence or registration from the central bank.News ·
  • A shop selling phones on instalments must check the buyer's income and spending.mf.gov.czFinance ministry — the lower house passes the consumer-credit bill (another site)The ministry expects the law to take effect on 1 February 2027; shops selling on interest-free instalments up to about 50,000 CZK get a simpler check that can pull income and expense data from employers' monthly reports, bank data shared with consent and registers of people's debts; for small short-term loans the…Regulation ·
  • On small short-term loans the lender must always prove the check was sound.mf.gov.czFinance ministry — the lower house passes the consumer-credit bill (another site)The ministry expects the law to take effect on 1 February 2027; shops selling on interest-free instalments up to about 50,000 CZK get a simpler check that can pull income and expense data from employers' monthly reports, bank data shared with consent and registers of people's debts; for small short-term loans the…Regulation ·

Willing to pay

0/2 · No sign yet

Lenders would pay for the check themselves, but no Czech price or payment for one is on file, only fines when it falls short.3 sourcesČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — supervision report 2025 (another site)The central bank supervised 73 non-bank lenders in 2025, found less serious systemic shortcomings in how lenders that finance goods in shops verify income, debts and expenses, fined non-bank lenders 19M CZK…Statistic · ČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — 4M CZK fine for unchecked incomes and expenses (another site)A central-bank decision fining a consumer lender 4M CZK: its goods and car financing could be granted without proof of income, it took expenses from flat amounts or the borrower's own figures, and it did not…Complaint · Market checkkontomatik.comCzech check — bank-data checks already sold here (another site)Czech-language search, the state business register and our own funding ledger: two established firms already sell income and expense checks from bank data to Czech lenders, a credit bureau offers a new one,…Market check ·

  • 19M CZK in fines hit non-bank lenders in ten decisions in 2025.ČNBcnb.czCzech National Bank — supervision report 2025 (another site)The central bank supervised 73 non-bank lenders in 2025, found less serious systemic shortcomings in how lenders that finance goods in shops verify income, debts and expenses, fined non-bank lenders 19M CZK in ten final decisions, and saw their complaints rise over 70% in a year.Statistic ·
  • Banks put their IT cost of the rules at 5M to 120M CZK.Zákony pro lidizakonyprolidi.czFinance ministry — impact assessment of the consumer-credit bill (another site)The ministry's impact assessment: banks of similar size put the cost of adapting their IT at 5M to 120M CZK, and no count exists of the shops that lend or arrange interest-free credit and now fall under the rules.Regulation ·
  • No Czech price for a bank-data check is public yet.Market checkkontomatik.comCzech check — bank-data checks already sold here (another site)Czech-language search, the state business register and our own funding ledger: two established firms already sell income and expense checks from bank data to Czech lenders, a credit bureau offers a new one, and two more sell the data or the payment history around it.Market check ·

Validated abroad

3/3 · Proven in 2+ markets

In France and Sweden, lenders already buy checks of income and spending read from bank data.2 sourcesmind.eu.comAlgoan (another site)A Paris company that turns a borrower's bank transactions into a credit score and a decision on what the borrower can afford, for consumer lenders and pay-later firms, used by large French consumer lenders.In the source’s words“La société, désormais rentable, vise le cap des 5 millions d’euros de revenu annuel récurrent au premier semestre et met l’accent sur l’international.”Company abroad · tink.comTink — Income Check (another site)A Stockholm company, part of Visa, whose Income Check verifies a borrower's income from the bank account through an API, with Nordic lenders named as customers.Company abroad ·

Where it works: FR, SE — home market CZFRSECZ
  1. Algoan (another site)Based in France
  2. Tink (another site)Based in Sweden

Market gap

0/2 · Crowded

Two established firms already sell income and expense checks from bank data to Czech lenders.Market checkkontomatik.comCzech check — bank-data checks already sold here (another site)Czech-language search, the state business register and our own funding ledger: two established firms already sell income and expense checks from bank data to Czech lenders, a credit bureau offers a new one, and two more sell the data or the payment history around it.Market check ·

New, selling this: CRIF – Czech Credit Bureau (NEOS). Established, selling this: Kontomatik (since 2011), Dateio (Tapix) (since 2013). New, selling something nearby: nobody on file. Established, selling something nearby: SOLUS (since 1999), Finbricks (since 2021).

Execution difficulty

2/3 · Moderate

Makes it easier

  • No licence is needed when the bank data comes through a licensed provider.
  • The new rules name bank data as a source.
  • Lenders already pay fines for weak checks.

Makes it harder

  • The buyers are lenders that want a record of each check the central bank will accept.
  • Established sellers already offer this in Czech.

Suggested first moves

  1. Build a check for shops selling on interest-free instalments that reads the buyer's bank data and returns a yes or no with its reasons.
  2. Call the heads of risk at mid-size non-bank lenders and ask what the central bank found in their checks.
  3. Buy the bank data from a firm licensed to pass it on, rather than reading bank accounts yourself.