What banks and suppliers see about your company before granting you a credit line or payment terms

In short: banks and suppliers see the same public data about your company that anyone can buy: filed financial statements, shareholders, directors, share capital and incorporation date from the Companies Register, protests and insolvency proceedings. From these they derive a rating (limited companies only) and an estimated credit line. With Veryfy, purpose «My company», you see the same report for €19. The Centrale Rischi (Bank of Italy credit register) and SIC data you can request for free yourself.

Which data about my company is public?

For a limited company, the following are public: the filed financial statements, shareholders with their shareholdings, directors and officers, share capital, incorporation date, protests and insolvency proceedings. Anyone can purchase them from the Companies Register and the protest register (Registro informatico dei protesti), without your consent and without notifying you.

According to registroimprese.it, the ordinary company register extract (visura ordinaria) shows personal details, corporate purpose and share capital, activities, incorporation date, shareholders with their shareholdings and officers, and it can be bought online even without registration; the latest filed financial statements are accessible to anyone. Financial statements must be approved within 120 days of the end of the financial year, or within 180 days where the articles of association allow it (arts. 2364 and 2478-bis of the Italian Civil Code, c.c.), and filed within thirty days of approval (art. 2435 c.c.). Protests remain in the Chamber of Commerce registers for five years from registration, unless cancelled (art. 3-bis D.L. 381/1995).

The register of beneficial owners (registro dei titolari effettivi) remains closed to third parties as of October 2026, but those holding significant shareholdings or offices can be reconstructed from the company register data: see who can consult the beneficial owners register. A sole proprietorship (ditta individuale) does not file financial statements: for it, the register extract, protests and insolvency proceedings are public, as explained in how to check the reliability of a sole proprietorship.

Who buys and reads this data about my company?

Banks during credit review, suppliers before granting you payment terms, trade credit insurers who cover your suppliers' invoices, large customers who vet who can join their supplier list, and anyone who spends €19 on a report. The data is the same for everyone; only what the bank adds to it differs.

What do banks and suppliers infer from public data?

A rating for limited companies, an estimated trade credit line and a list of signals: net equity below two-thirds of share capital or negative, financial statements filed more than 18 months earlier, company incorporated less than 12 months ago, protests in the last five years, registered insolvency proceedings. These are the same signals the Veryfy report highlights, with source and date.

• Net equity below two-thirds of share capital: losses have exceeded a third of share capital (arts. 2446 and 2482-bis c.c.). How the person assessing you reads this is explained in customer with a loss-making balance sheet: grant a credit line?.
• Negative net equity: the company owes more than it owns.
• Financial statements filed more than 18 months ago: the reader sees an old snapshot and asks why the newer one is missing.
• Company incorporated less than 12 months ago: no track record, often no financial statements. This is not a fault, but it reduces the credit line that can be granted without guarantees.
• Share capital small compared with the amount requested: a limited company with minimal share capital that asks for a large amount is read as in limited company with share capital of €1: the risks for those who work with it.

The credit line in the reports is an estimate: no supplier is obliged to follow it, and no report says whether the bank will grant you the loan.

What does the bank check on a limited company for a credit line, beyond public data?

The confidential data: the Bank of Italy's Centrale dei Rischi (credit register), which records credit relationships with banks, and the private credit information systems (CRIF/EURISC, Experian, CTC). Veryfy does not see them: it does not show late payments, loans or reports. You request that data yourself, as the person concerned.

Access to your own data in the Centrale dei Rischi is free: according to bancaditalia.it, you request it from the Servizi online portal with SPID, CIE or CNS, and the reply normally comes within 30 days. The procedure is in how to check your data in the Centrale Rischi, what weighs in the bank's assessment in what the bank looks at before granting a loan, and the overview in the hub what they see about you before you apply for credit.

What can I do before asking for a credit line or payment terms?

Four things, all concerning public data: file the financial statements on time, recapitalise if net equity has been eroded, have paid or rehabilitated protests cancelled, and align the register extract with reality. None guarantees the outcome, but each removes a signal from the report they will receive.

• File the financial statements on time: in October 2026, for a calendar-year company, the reader expects the 2025 financial statements.
• Recapitalise if net equity is eroded: a contribution from shareholders brings in new resources, unlike a mere reduction of share capital to cover losses, which is an accounting adjustment.
• Cancel paid protests: for a bill of exchange paid within twelve months of the protest (levata), together with interest and costs, you request cancellation from the Chamber of Commerce that published it, which decides within 20 days. Beyond twelve months, and for cheques, rehabilitation is required first.
• Correct the register extract: former directors still listed, or an outdated registered office or activity, are inconsistencies that a careful reader notices before you do.

I have protests or a low rating: how do I still get a credit line?

By removing the signals you can remove and offsetting the others with guarantees. Anyone who has paid the protested bill, with no other protests, can apply for rehabilitation (riabilitazione) one year after the protest (levata) (art. 17 L. 108/1996): the protest is treated as if it never occurred, and the Chamber of Commerce removes it from the register within twenty days of the application.

Rehabilitation is granted by decree of the president of the court or, according to the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna, since 1 March 2023 also by notarial deed. For the rest, the instruments that suppliers request when the estimated credit line does not cover the amount are: a personal guarantee from a shareholder, a deposit on the first deliveries, staggered deliveries, a surety bond (fideiussione). Proposing them yourself changes the negotiation, as explained in supplier credit line: how to obtain or negotiate it.

How do I see exactly the report that the person checking me sees?

With Veryfy, by entering your VAT number and declaring the purpose «My company»: the Verifica report (€19) is the same one a supplier receives when checking you, with rating (limited companies only), estimated operating credit line, warning signals, shareholders and directors, beneficial owner reconstructed from the Companies Register, net equity, and the date of the latest financial statements and of incorporation.

The question about exposure becomes «how much would you like to request»: enter the amount of the credit line, payment terms or loan, and the traffic light compares it with the estimated operating credit line, telling you whether it fits, is at the limit, or exceeds it, and by how much. The check is declarative: you declare that the VAT number is yours. The report does not show whether the company is active or ceased, does not access Centrale Rischi or the SIC systems, and the credit line remains an estimate; for a sole proprietorship the rating is missing and some sections appear as «not available», never filled with plausible numbers.

As a basic check, Negative records and insolvency proceedings (€5.90) only states whether protests and insolvency proceedings are recorded against your company, with source and date: it arrives by email, is not instant, and does not show financial statements or ratings.