How to use data lookup for customer data verification

The Data Lookup feature gives lenders a centralized way to directly verify a customer’s information without relying on a separate third-party tool. You pick a check, provide the required input like a BVN or account number, and the system runs the check, charges your account the check’s cost, and shows you the result.

Two categories of lookups

Lookups are grouped into two categories, General and Credit Bureau. Which one you pick determines the list of specific lookup types you choose from next.

General

The General category covers identity and contact verification:

• National Identity Number (NIN)
• Bank Verification Number (BVN)
• Bank Account Verification
• Karma Blacklist
• Email Verification
• Phone Number Verification
• MTN SIM Swap Verification
• MTN SIM Activation Verification
• MTN SIM Recycle Verification
• Combined BVN and Account Number Verification

Credit Bureau

The Credit Bureau category covers credit reports from Nigeria’s three credit bureaus, CRC, CreditRegistry, and First Central. Rather than one generic lookup per bureau, each bureau offers several distinct report types, priced and listed separately:

• CRC: CRC Credit Bureau, CRC Full Credit Report, CRC Consumer Basic Report (and Premium), CRC Consumer Compact Report (and Premium), CRC Consumer Classic Report (and Premium)
• CreditRegistry: CreditRegistry Credit Bureau, Credit Registry Account Summary, Credit Registry Performance, Credit Registry Full Credit Report
• First Central: First Central Credit Bureau, First Central Detailed Credit Report, First Central Snap Check, First Central Consumer Basic Trace Report, First Central Consumer Basic Credit Report, First Central Consumer Mini Report, First Central XScore Consumer Prime Report, First Central iScore Report

Each report type shows its own short description and cost when selected, a summary-style report costs less than a full detailed report from the same bureau, so it’s worth picking the specific type that matches what you actually need.

How to run a lookup

1. Log in to the admin console and click Data Lookup under Request management. This opens the Data Lookup module, showing a history of past lookups on your account.

2. Click New data lookup. Pick a Category (General or Credit Bureau), then use the Data lookup type dropdown that appears to pick the specific check you want to run.

3. Selecting a type shows its description, cost, and the input field it needs, usually just a BVN for credit bureau reports. For example, First Central’s Detailed Credit Report is described as an “XScore consumer detailed credit report from First Central”:

4. Fill in the required field and click Run lookup. The check runs against the value you provided, charges your account the listed cost, and the result opens in the lookup record once it completes. The completed lookup is added to the history list on the Data Lookup landing page, along with the masked data subject, cost, and timestamp.

Running a lookup from a customer, loan request, or elsewhere

You don’t always need to start from the Data Lookup module itself. Several other screens let you run a lookup directly against the record you’re already looking at, pre-filling the customer so you don’t have to search for them again.

From a customer profile

Open a customer’s profile, click the More actions button (the vertical dots next to Book Loan), and select Look up data.

This opens the same New data lookup form, already showing the customer’s name and ID at the top so you know which record you’re running the check against. Pick a category and lookup type and run it the same way as above.

From a loan request

Open a loan request under Request management > Loan Requests, click More actions, and select Run data lookup. This opens the same lookup form pre-filled for that request’s borrower.

For more on the Data Lookup module itself, including how it fits into your KYC process, see Understanding data lookup on the admin console.