- 621 non-deposit taking Saccos left Kenya’s credit information sharing system in 2025
- Sacco participation in CRB data sharing fell sharply as third party sources also declined
- Rising demand for credit reports highlights the growing role of borrower data in lending decisions
More than 600 non-deposit taking Saccos dropped out of Kenya’s credit information sharing system in 2025, according to new Central Bank of Kenya data, raising questions about how lenders will assess borrowers linked to these institutions going forward.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), in its Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025, disclosed that Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) ended data sharing partnerships with 621 non-deposit taking Saccos during the year. That marks a 30 percent drop, from 2,040 such Saccos participating in 2024 to just 1,419 by December 2025.
The decline in Sacco participation was the single largest driver behind an overall fall in the number of third party data sources feeding into Kenya’s credit reference system. Total third party sources, which also include trade companies, insurance providers and development finance institutions, fell from 2,824 in 2024 to 2,241 in 2025.
Table 26(a) of the report breaks down the 2025 figures further. Non-deposit taking Saccos still made up the largest single category of third party data sources at 1,419, ahead of trade companies at 740, insurance providers at 56, development finance institutions at 10, self-help groups at eight, parastatals at six, and one each for community based organisations and learning institutions.
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Not all Saccos are affected equally. The report distinguishes between two groups. Deposit-taking Saccos are classified among CBK’s mandatory CRB subscribers, alongside commercial banks, microfinance banks and digital credit providers, meaning they are legally required to submit borrower data. Deposit-taking Saccos fall under the supervision of the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA).
Non-deposit taking Saccos, by contrast, participate as third party data sources on a voluntary basis. It is this group that recorded the sharp exodus in 2025. The report does not state why these Saccos withdrew, whether the terminations were initiated by the bureaus, the Saccos themselves, or both.
Credit reference data allows lenders to check a borrower’s repayment history before extending a loan. When a Sacco stops sharing that data, members who borrow or save through it may become harder for other financial institutions to assess, potentially limiting their access to credit outside the Sacco system.
The exodus also comes against a backdrop of rising demand for credit information generally. Credit report requests by banks climbed 23 percent, from 38.6 million in 2024 to 47.3 million in 2025, driven by a recovery in lending to the private sector, which grew 5.9 percent in December 2025 after starting the year at negative 2.9 percent in January. Requests from individual customers checking their own credit status fell slightly, from 927,394 to 879,195 over the same period, a drop of 5 percent.
By Benedict Aoya
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