Bank of Ireland has confirmed that it posted inaccurate credit information for thousands of its customers to the Central Credit Register.

The bank told Newstalk that the mistake, affecting around 3,000 people, was due to a “technical error.”

The Central Credit Register (CCR) was established in the past year to replace the Irish Credit Bureau.

The register logs all loans exceeding €500 in value – and ensures lenders can access customer’s credit history through a central database while they are deciding whether to grant a loan.

Bank of Ireland said it posted the inaccurate information between November and January and corrected the mistake in early January.

The bank told Newstalk’s Business Correspondent Vincent Wall that it has written to all affected customers and warned them that the mistake may have affected any loan application they may have.

Central Credit Register

On Breakfast Business this morning, Ask About Money founder Brendan Burgess said it is a “major exercise” for banks to move credit information on to the new register.

He set out how the 3,000 customers were affected.

“1,500 people had a loan and those loans were put down on 1,500 other people’s records,” he said.

“So there are people who might have got loans because the bank didn’t realise they had loans elsewhere.

“Then of course there are people who might have been refused loans because they had extra loans on their accounts.”

Bank of Ireland

He said there is an easy way to find out if you have been affected by the mistake.

“If you applied for a loan and you were rejected – and you were sort of surprised that you were rejected – get on to the Central Credit Register,” he said.

“You can go online and you can register quite easily and you can get a copy of your report.”

He said anyone thinking about taking out a mortgage or a major loan in the coming months should check their credit status.

“It doesn’t cost anything to have a look at your record just to see what is on it in case a mistake has been made by BOI or any bank,” he said.

“You check your credit record and if you find something that surprises you, like a loan or something that you don’t have or there could be a mention of arrears or something like that, well then now is the time to take action and correct it.”