Current problems related to consumer credit agreements
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Professor of Civil Law at University of Tartu
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Associate Professor of Civil Law at University
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Associate Professor of Law of Obligations at University of Tartu
As digital lending becomes ubiquitous, consumer credit agreements reveal troubling legal asymmetries. Authors highlight two pressing challenges: fraud via electronic identity (eID) misuse and opaque, automated credit scoring.
Victims of eID fraud, often duped into surrendering credentials, are left liable for debts they never authorised—unlike in payment fraud, where banks bear responsibility. Courts require victims to prove a negative: that they didn’t sign the contract. Meanwhile, creditworthiness is increasingly assessed via algorithmic profiling, raising data protection concerns under EU law. Estonia’s legislative framework lags behind European standards, risking consumer rights and trust. The authors advocate legal reform: easing the evidentiary burden for fraud victims, aligning credit scoring with GDPR, and ensuring the proposed credit registry protects rather than penalises consumers. Justice in digital finance demands structural, not merely procedural, change.