Whether you’re looking for a car loan, a home loan, a personal loan, bad credit loan or a car loan with bad credit Rapid Finance may be able to help. With over the phone applications and no deposit financing available in most cases, we find loans tailored to your needs. With almost 20 years of getting the best deals for customers in Australia, we know how to find you the best deals.
When you’re hoping to secure a loan, the more information you have, the better. One of the things we often get asked is how many credit bureaus and reporting agencies are there? What’s the difference between the agencies? How do they calculate a credit score?
What is a credit bureau?
The world of loans and finance can be confusing, and it’s hard to keep track of who’s who. In simple terms, credit bureaus are data collectors. Also known as a credit reporting agency, a credit bureau compiles your credit history and supplies, credit providers, with that information when they need to run a credit check.
Why do credit providers need to have your credit history?
When a credit provider decides whether to lend you money, they need to see your credit history before they approve. The information collected by the credit bureau makes up your credit history and gives the lender a good idea about whether you will be able to make your repayments without difficulty.
What is contained in a credit report?
If you’ve ever applied for a loan or for credit, there will be a credit report linked to your name. Your credit report uses information from the credit bureau and contains your credit rating, which is the ‘band’ your score sits in (low, fair, good, very good or excellent).
Your credit score is calculated by - the number of credit applications you’ve made over the last 5 years and whether you make repayments on time on your loans. It can include bankruptcy and debt agreements, credit applications, defaults on bills and loans, repayment history and credit products.
How many credit bureaus and reporting agencies there are
In Australia, there are three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and illion. So how do these agencies differ?
Experian is a data-focused agency that lets you order a free copy of your credit report.
It allows lenders to make accurate decisions about your financial health based on data.
Equifax (formerly Veda) is the largest credit bureau in the country and provides both personal and business credit reports for free. This is the agency that generally most lenders access – Some lenders do also do checks on Illion as well
Illion (formerly Dun & Bradstreet) provides personal credit reports, business credit checks and debt recovery services.
Each of the three credit reporting agencies receives its information from both public sources and credit providers. Your score can vary between 0 and 1200 depending on the bureau, but the higher the score, the better.
Will each credit bureau provide a different report?
As each of the credit bureaus operates slightly differently, you may find that your credit score report differs slightly between agencies. Experian’s ‘excellent’ credit band, for example, is between 800 and 1,000, whereas at Equifax it’s 833 and 1,200.
Free credit check
At Rapid Finance, we can check your credit score for you, for free. (Generally with Equifax) We constantly review our services to ensure we remain highly competitive, flexible to meet customer needs and help people from all walks of life to unlock the door to finance.
If you decide to check your credit score online yourself, ensure that the provider you're using is a reputable one. There have been instances where scammers have created websites offering free credit checks, only to steal users' data and use it for identity theft or fraud. If the website you're using looks suspect, then it may be so.
Remember, no agency should ask for your credit card or banking details when you request to check your credit score. If a website does do this, look elsewhere, as it may be a scam. (Unless you are signing up for a product of the credit reporting agency, like credit alert as an example)
Just ask Rapid Finance
Whether you need to purchase your dream car or go on the holiday of a lifetime, we make getting finance easy. Contact Rapid Finance today on 1300 467 274 or get in touch and we'll help you discover the perfect loan for your situation.
your credit history for mistakes (which can happen) and correct them for you.