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The Competition Council is investigating the FICO score amid suspicions that it penalizes customers who apply for loans from multiple banks

Cristiana Dida

7 November 2026, 14:55

Current Affairs

foto: Facebook / Consiliul Concurenței

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The Competition Council is investigating how the FICO score is calculated, an indicator used by banks to assess credit risk. The checks target banks that are members of the Credit Bureau and are expected to be completed early next year.

Competition Council President Bogdan Chirițoiu said the institution is examining whether the score’s methodology penalizes customers who apply for loans from multiple banks. In this case, people seeking to transfer their loan or compare offers from different institutions could be disadvantaged.

Information sharing between banks is considered normal when it is aimed at identifying customers who have failed to meet their payment obligations. However, the Council is checking whether the way the score is calculated limits customer mobility and their access to competing offers.

Chirițoiu stated that, at present, there are only suspicions and no conclusion that the law has been breached. Similar investigations have been opened in the United States and Poland. The investigation in Romania targets more banks than the one concerning the setting of ROBOR, in which 10 institutions were fined a total of 700 million euros in June. If violations are confirmed, the Competition Council may impose further sanctions.

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Context: The Competition Council already has a precedent in the ROBOR case, while the banks are challenging the sanctions

Before the checks concerning the FICO score methodology, the Competition Council had also opened and advanced an important stage in the series of ROBOR-related litigation: the court rejected CEC Bank’s request to suspend enforcement of the fine, in the first case involving the sanctioned banks. The case was part of a sequence of court challenges, after the first hearing in the series was postponed, with rulings for the other institutions to follow subsequently.

The ROBOR investigation was launched at the end of 2022, and the sanctioning decision was adopted in June and communicated to the banks at the end of September. In total, 10 banks were fined 3.73 billion lei (approximately the equivalent of 710 million euros), and if the suspension requests are not granted, the banks would have to pay within approximately one month. On the merits, the NBR subsequently stated that it did not intend to amend the regulations concerning the establishment of ROBOR, following the emergence of information about a possible change, while ING Bank Romania announced that it had challenged the decision, citing the unfounded nature of the allegations and the use of all legal avenues.