AI agents for business finance: what they can and can't do
What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
A Nigerian credit report has four working parts: your personal details, a summary of your credit facilities, the detail of each facility with its balance, payment history and status, and a list of enquiries showing who requested your report and when. Read the personal details first, because wrong identity data causes most errors, then check every facility against your own records.
Before you start
Get the full consumer report, not just a score. You are entitled to one free report a year from each bureau under section 9(6)(a) of the Credit Reporting Act 2017; see how to claim it. CRC Credit Bureau describes a report as reflecting "repayment history, loans, current debts, and other key financial details", and FirstCentral describes its detailed consumer report as containing demographic data and total credit history. Layouts differ between bureaus, but the parts below appear in some form on each.
Note the date you received the report. If you find an error, section 9(6)(b) says you must contest it within 15 working days of receipt.
Part 1: Personal details
This section lists the identity data lenders have submitted: names, date of birth, gender, phone numbers, addresses, employer and identifiers. Check:
- Every spelling of your name. Several versions usually mean different lenders captured it differently; that is common, but a name that is not yours is a warning sign.
- Your date of birth. A wrong one can split your history or merge a stranger's into yours.
- Phone numbers and addresses you do not recognise, which can point to someone using your identity.
The Act forbids bureaus from including your race, ethnicity, colour, religion or political affiliation (section 3(3)(d)). If any appear, dispute them.
Part 2: Credit summary
A short table near the top usually totals your facilities: how many are open and closed, the total amount owed, the total overdue and the number of lenders. It is the first thing a lender glances at. If the totals look wrong, the error is in one of the facilities below.
Part 3: Each facility
Every loan, overdraft, card, lease or post-paid account a provider reported gets its own block. The fields usually include:
- Provider
- The lender or company that reported it
- Facility type
- Personal loan, overdraft, card, lease, mortgage, post-paid service
- Date opened
- When the facility started
- Amount / limit
- The amount lent or the limit offered
- Current balance
- What was owed at the last update
- Amount overdue
- Payments missed and not yet made up
- Days past due
- How late the oldest unpaid amount is
- Payment history
- A month-by-month line showing on time, late or missed
- Status
- Open, closed, settled, written off, restructured or under dispute
- Last updated
- When the provider last sent data
Read last updated carefully. A loan you repaid may show a balance simply because the lender has not reported since; see how often reports are updated. The under dispute status appears while a complaint is open, because section 13(6) requires it.
A labelled example
Example only. An illustrative facility block, not taken from any real bureau:
| Field | Shown | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Bank A | Who to contact if wrong |
| Type / amount | Personal loan, ₦300,000 | Matches your offer letter? |
| Opened | Feb 2026 | Matches your records? |
| Balance | ₦100,000 | Two of six ₦50,000 instalments left (6 × ₦50,000 = ₦300,000; 4 paid = ₦200,000) |
| Overdue / days past due | ₦50,000 / 35 days | One instalment missed over a month ago |
| Payment history | On time, on time, on time, on time, late | Fifth payment late |
| Status | Open | Still running |
| Last updated | Sep 2026 | Data is about a month old |
Interest is ignored in this example to keep the arithmetic plain. If you had in fact paid the fifth instalment, this block is the evidence you would dispute, with your receipt attached.
Part 4: Enquiries
CRC says its reports show "Inquiry Details (who asked, when)". Each line is an institution that requested your report. Lenders may need your consent to do so (section 12(d)), so an enquiry from a lender you never approached deserves a question. Several in a short period tells lenders you have been applying widely; see what applying to many lenders does.
Also compare the enquiries with the facilities above them. An enquiry followed by a new facility from the same lender in the same month is a normal application that succeeded. An enquiry with nothing after it was an application that was declined or not taken up, or a check by a landlord, employer or insurer, all of which are permissible purposes under section 7(2) of the Act.
Part 5: Score, if included
Some products include a score. CRC's score is a three-digit number from 300 to 850. A score is the bureau's own model; section 3(3)(a) of the Act forbids the bureau from offering an opinion on your creditworthiness in the report, so a lender still decides for itself.
What to check first
- Personal details: name, date of birth, phone numbers.
- Any facility you do not recognise; if it is not yours, follow the steps for a loan you never took.
- Repaid loans still showing a balance.
- Overdue amounts and days past due against your own receipts.
- Duplicates of the same loan.
- Then dispute in writing; here is the process.
Where Pryme fits
If a Loan on Spaces appears on your report, it will show the lender as Solid Allianze Microfinance Bank, which lends Loans on Spaces; see who lends Loans on Spaces.
Questions people ask
What does days past due mean on my credit report?
It is how late the oldest unpaid amount on a facility is. A loan with 35 days past due has a payment that was due over a month ago and not made.
Why does my credit report show different names?
Each lender submits the name as it captured it, so spellings vary. A name or date of birth that is not yours should be disputed.
What is an enquiry on a credit report?
A record that an institution requested your report, with its name and the date. Lenders usually need your consent to make one.
My report shows a loan I repaid as open. What do I do?
Check the last updated date. If the lender has reported since your final payment, dispute it in writing with your closing letter attached; the lender or bureau must reply within 10 working days.
Sources
- Credit Reporting Act 2017 (certified copy, via PLAC) · accessed Oct 2026
- CRC Credit Bureau: home page (free report, products and prices) · accessed Oct 2026
- CRC Credit Bureau: FAQ · accessed Oct 2026
- FirstCentral Credit Bureau: home page · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.