What Is A Good Credit Score?

A credit score or credit rating is a numerical score that represents how trustworthy your reputation is as a borrower.

Lenders, banks, and insurers may use this information to decide if they will lend out money, as a credit score is an indication of how likely they are to be paid back and paid on time.

Credit Reporting Bureaus (CRB).

Australia technically uses four credit bureaus:

1. Equifax

2. Experian

3. Illion

4. Tasmanian Collection Service

Let’s focus on the first three (sorry, Tassy). Below is a quick summary of how each CRB categorise their credit scores.

A bit like the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices blend, credit bureaus aren’t one to reveal their secrets. Nobody knows the exact recipe each CRB uses, but it essentially comes down to a few key factors.

• Recent credit behaviour & enquiries

• Repayment history

• Length of payment history

• Type of credit

• Debt burden

The bands used by the CRBs are a pretty good place to start when assessing how good your credit score is. That’s because they take into account credit scores across the total credit active population.

Credit scores are used and viewed by different lenders in different ways, however an easy way to look at it is – the higher the score the better.

The thing to remember is that your credit score can change over time and how it changes is over to you.

Let’s start with the good news.

Your credit score is always changing based on your financial behaviour which means you can actually improve your score with some good behaviour.

The not-so-great news is that defaults and ‘bad’ marks against your credit score can stay on your file for 5-7 years.

Credit scores come down to responsibility. Being conscious of staying on top of your payments and checking your credit score regularly can help you maintain a good, healthy credit rating.

Positive Credit Reporting, also known as Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) has been around for 4 years in Australia.

It essentially means that lenders can see more data in your credit report so they can better assess a borrower’s true credit position and their ability to repay a loan.

The benefit of lenders having more comprehensive info about your credit standing means that lenders can make more informed decisions based on your credit behaviour.

You’ve come to the right place. With Wisr you can get both your Equifax and Experian score in minutes and in one place. Check your credit scores now.