Do You Know What Goes On Your Credit Report?

Banks and financial instituitions use the CBS report as one of the various considerations in their credit assessment process. The higher the score, the lower the probability of an individual defaulting payment, hence makes it easier for one to obtain credit and qualify for loans.

This report is also supplemented with publicly available information such as bankruptcy and Debt Repayment Scheme records from the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office (IPTO) as well as Debt Management Programme information from Credit Counselling Singapore.

So, what are the information provided in your credit report to the banks and what are the contributing factors that affect your score?

Information displayed in your Credit Report

· Summary of your personal credit facilities, total credit limit across all banks in Singapore and any presence of default or bankruptcy records.

· Account Status History which displays all the credit accounts you have with banks and financial institutions under CBS. This information is displayed on a rolling 12 months basis while closed accounts will have the last 12 months payment status history as at the date of closure displayed for 3 years.

· Previous Enquiries contains a record of all enquiries made on the individual’s report, including self-enquiries. This information will be retained in the report for 2 years from the date of enquiry.

· Default Records reflect payment default information as reported by lenders which are members of CBS. Default records with the status of Negotiated Settlement or Full Settlement will be displayed for 3 years from status date. For default records with the status of Outstanding, Partial Payment and Sold Off, the records will be displayed indefinitely on the report.

· Bankruptcy Proceedings displays bankruptcy records sourced from IPTO. This information will be retained in the credit report for 5 years from the date of discharge from bankruptcy. This is consistent with IPTO’s data retention period.

· Narratives indicates involvement in Debt Management Programme (DMP) with Credit Counselling Singapore (CCS) and any amendments made to the information in the report.

· Bureau Score is calculated from an algorithm based on information in your current available credit data and is a fluid number which may change from time to time in tandem with changes in your credit information. This information is provided by and collated from various sources.

· Aggregated Outstanding Balances are generally computed based on the amounts outstanding under borrowers’ credit cards and credit facilities, including any fees and interest accrued thereon.

· Aggregated Monthly Instalments include the specific amount for each credit facility in your name provided by the Financial Institution(s) for the previous month and aggregated amounts for the preceding 5 months.

The reported monthly instalment amounts will only be shown in detailed Product Type breakdown for the most recent reported past month’s data from the Financial Institution(s); where the retrieval of this CBS report is done after the 15th of each month. If this CBS report is retrieved on or before the 15th of each month, the most recent month displayed will be reflected as data respectively.

For example:

· If a consumer obtains the personal credit report on or before 15 January 2021, the reported monthly instalment amounts displayed would be up until the month of November 2020.

· If the same consumer obtains the personal credit report after 15 January 2021, the reported monthly instalment amounts displayed would be up until the month of December 2020.

· Monthly instalment amounts for Joint Accounts are reported as a full instalment amount due for a facility and does not reflect individually pro-rated or shared amounts for each joint borrower.

Illustration of Breakdown of Monthly Instalments by banks and accounts

Key Contributing Factors to Your Bureau Score

It is worthwhile to keep up to date on the details that go into your credit report to monitor your credit health, along with reviewing your report for inaccurate information. You can obtain your personal credit report directly from Credit Bureau Singapore. If you have any queries on your report, you may contact CBS or email to seek clarification.

This article was contributed by Credit Bureau Singapore.