Updated 27 September 2026. Every fee and rule below links to the bureau, CBK or Kenya Law document it comes from.
To check your CRB status in Kenya, ask each of the three licensed credit reference bureaus for your credit report. TransUnion takes requests by SMS to 21272 or through its Nipashe app. Creditinfo uses the MyCreditinfo portal and app. Metropol has a USSD code (*433# on Safaricom) and the Crystobol app. The law gives you one free report a year from each bureau, so checking all three costs nothing for the reports themselves.
Lenders look at your file far more often than you do. Banks requested 47.3 million credit reports in 2025, while individuals asked for just 879,195 of their own (CBK Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025, section 3.21). If you've been turned down for a loan, your report is the first thing to read.
We rewrote this guide in September 2026 and removed claims we couldn't trace to a source. That includes a "shared" USSD menu for all three bureaus, a KSh 2,200 price for a "full report", and a 200 to 900 score table. None of them appears in the bureaus' own documents.
The three licensed CRBs in Kenya
CBK licenses exactly three credit reference bureaus. The list below is from Appendix XIX of the CBK Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025, as at 31 December 2025.
| Bureau | Legal name | Licensed |
|---|---|---|
| TransUnion | Credit Reference Bureau Africa Limited | 9 February 2010 |
| Metropol | Metropol Credit Reference Bureau Limited | 6 April 2011 |
| Creditinfo | Creditinfo Credit Reference Bureau Kenya Limited | 29 April 2015 |
Each bureau keeps its own file on you, and your free report is per bureau. So there's no reason to check only one.
How to check your CRB status with each bureau
TransUnion: SMS 21272 or the Nipashe app
TransUnion's Kenya page lists these channels (transunionafrica.com/kenya, read 27 September 2026):
- SMS your name to 21272.
- Install the TransUnion Nipashe app from Google Play.
- Send an email, or visit the office at Delta Corner Annex, 2nd Floor, Ring Road, Westlands, Nairobi.
TransUnion's summary of consumer rights (2021) says a request needs certified copies of your ID and your KRA PIN certificate.
What it costs, per TransUnion's consumer fee schedule (undated, linked from its Kenya site): the first report each year is free and each further report that year is KSh 300. Nipashe registration is a one-off KSh 50 to M-Pesa paybill 212121, and each Nipashe SMS costs KSh 19. Disputes and alerts are free.
TransUnion doesn't publish a USSD code on those pages. If a site tells you to dial one for TransUnion, treat it with suspicion.
Creditinfo: the MyCreditinfo portal or app
Creditinfo works online. You register at applications.mycreditinfo.co.ke to see your credit score and status, and its site also mentions a MyCreditinfo mobile app.
Creditinfo's consumer fee schedule (uploaded June 2021) says:
- The first credit report within 12 months is free.
- A second report within those 12 months costs KSh 350.
- Online applications carry a KSh 50 verification fee.
- MyCreditinfo monitoring is KSh 600 a year. Disputes are free.
We found no USSD or SMS code for Creditinfo.
Metropol: dial *433# or use the Crystobol app
Metropol is the only bureau that publishes a USSD code. Its FAQ lists these channels:
- USSD: dial *433# from a Safaricom line.
- The Crystobol Android app, or the web app at crystobol.metropol.co.ke.
- Email [email protected], or visit an office or agent.
You register by paying to a "designated MPESA Paybill", but Metropol's Crystobol terms don't state the number or the amount. On the free side, Metropol says: "A Credit report is FREE every calendar year and 30 days after being barred from getting a loan due to a listing by the CRB" (FAQ). Its home page adds a free report on first-time registration.
What Metropol charges for extra reports is not published. We checked the home page, FAQ, customer-rights, credit-report, clearance-certificate and Crystobol pages. That's odd, because regulation 32(5) of the 2020 CRB Regulations tells bureaus to publish their fees.
CRB status check fees compared
| TransUnion | Creditinfo | Metropol | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to request | SMS 21272, Nipashe app, email, office | MyCreditinfo portal or app | USSD on Safaricom, Crystobol app or web, email, office |
| Free report | 1 per year | 1 per 12 months | 1 per calendar year |
| Each extra report | KSh 300 | KSh 350, plus KSh 50 online verification | Not published |
| Other charges | Nipashe: KSh 50 once, KSh 19 per SMS | MyCreditinfo: KSh 600 a year | Registration by paybill, amount not published |
| Source and date | TransUnion fee schedule, undated | Creditinfo fee schedule, June 2021 | Metropol FAQ, undated |
Your right to a free CRB report
The free report isn't a promotion. It's in the regulations. Regulation 35(3) of the CRB Regulations 2013 gives you a copy of your report from each bureau at no charge in three cases:
- At least once a year.
- Within 30 days of a lender telling you it turned you down because of your report.
- After you ask a bureau to correct wrong information.
Regulation 37(3) of the CRB Regulations 2020 repeats the same entitlement. Three bureaus and one free report each means up to three free reports a year. That's our arithmetic; no document states the number three.
The 2020 Regulations add two rules: a bureau must send your report within 5 working days of the request (regulation 37(4)), and every report must include a credit score (regulations 18(3) and 39(3)). These come only from the 2020 Regulations, which are under legal challenge (see below).
Why the 2020 Regulations come with a warning
The High Court declared the 2020 Regulations void on 28 August 2023, because they weren't tabled in Parliament in time. News reports say the Court of Appeal suspended that ruling in February 2024 while CBK's appeal (E782 of 2023) is heard (Business Daily, secondary source). Then on 12 February 2026 another High Court judge wrote that the Regulations "are of no legal effect whatsoever" and noted the appeal was still pending (KEHC 1306 of 2026, paragraph 121). We found no final appeal judgment as of 27 September 2026. The bureaus still publish fee schedules named after the 2020 Regulations.
How to read your CRB report and status
Your report lists the credit that lenders have reported about you and flags any account reported as in default. Three rules help you read the negative parts.
Notice before listing. A lender must give you at least 30 days' notice before it sends negative information to a bureau, or a shorter period if your loan contract allows it (regulation 25(1), 2013; regulation 26(1), 2020).
When a loan counts as non-performing. Metropol's FAQ describes it as a "loan not serviced for 90days".
How long a listing stays. Negative information stays for 5 years from the date you finish paying the defaulted amount, or 7 years from discharge from bankruptcy (regulation 33(1), 2013; regulation 34(1), 2020). Many sites say the 5 years run from the date of default. The regulations say settlement.
There's also a floor. Under the 2020 Regulations, which are under legal challenge, lenders may not submit negative information for an amount of KSh 1,000 or less (regulation 18(2)). The 2013 Regulations had no minimum.
Take Otieno, a representative case, not a real customer. A bank turns down his loan in March. He registers on Nipashe (KSh 50) and gets his free TransUnion report, which shows an old mobile loan listed for KSh 800. He checks Creditinfo and Metropol too, both free for the year. Because the amount is under KSh 1,000, he disputes the listing with TransUnion and cites regulation 18(2) of the 2020 Regulations. He also knows the lender may point to the court case, so he keeps his M-Pesa statements as a backup in case the balance itself is wrong.
What to do if your CRB report is wrong
Disputing an error is free at TransUnion and Creditinfo, according to their fee schedules. Here's the process:
- Get your report from the bureau that shows the error.
- Note the lender's name, the account and what's wrong.
- Lodge a dispute with that bureau and attach proof, such as M-Pesa statements or a letter from the lender.
- Check the report again once the deadline below has passed.
Under the 2020 Regulations, which are under legal challenge, the bureau has 5 working days to flag the item "under investigation" and tell the lender, then 7 days to investigate (regulation 37(6) and (7)). The lender has 21 days to finish its own check. If it doesn't, the disputed information is deleted (regulation 37(8) and (10)). The 2013 Regulations gave the lender 14 days (regulation 35(8)), and Creditinfo's FAQ still says 14.
Two more things from the 2020 Regulations. You can add a statement of up to 100 words to your file (regulation 37(13)). And if the bureau doesn't fix it, you can escalate to CBK (regulation 37(15)), to an alternative dispute resolution body, or to court. A bureau may charge for the investigation if your claim turns out to be false (regulation 37(14)).
If the listing is correct
A correct listing can't be deleted early. Paying changes the account to settled, and the 5-year clock starts on the day you finish paying. Our step-by-step guide on how to remove a CRB listing covers what to ask the lender for. If an employer wants proof, read our guide to the CRB clearance certificate.
What to do next
- New to CRBs? Start with our explainer, what is CRB in Kenya.
- Want a rough idea before you pay for anything? Try the CRB score estimator. It's our own estimate, not a bureau score.
- Wondering which loan apps look at your CRB file? Read loan apps without CRB check: what's true.
- Need money this week? Compare options on Money Now and check the fees before you borrow.
Sources
All sources accessed 27 September 2026.
- CBK Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025, as at 31 December 2025: the three licensed bureaus (Appendix XIX), report requests in 2025 (section 3.21).
- TransUnion Kenya: SMS 21272, Nipashe app, paybill 212121.
- TransUnion consumer fee schedule, undated: free annual report, KSh 300 extra report, Nipashe KSh 50 and KSh 19 per SMS, free disputes.
- TransUnion summary of consumer rights, 2021: ID and KRA PIN requirement.
- Creditinfo consumer fee schedule, uploaded June 2021: free report, KSh 350, KSh 50 verification, KSh 600 monitoring.
- MyCreditinfo and Creditinfo FAQ, undated.
- Metropol FAQ, home page and Crystobol terms, undated: USSD, Crystobol, free report, 90-day definition.
- Banking (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations 2013, L.N. 5 of 2014 (Kenya Law, consolidated to 31 December 2022): regulations 25(1), 33(1), 35(3), 35(8).
- Banking (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations 2020, L.N. 55 of 8 April 2020, under legal challenge: regulations 18, 26, 32(5), 34, 37, 39.
- High Court judgment, KEHC 1306 of 2026 (KLR), judgment of 12 February 2026: the 2023 ruling and the pending appeal.
- Business Daily, "Court reinstates regulations on credit reference bureaus", February 2024 (secondary source).