Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) is also known as ‘positive credit reporting. It is the way we report your credit information to credit reporting bodies (CRBs) to include sharing of information such as consumer credit liability information and repayment history information.
Under CCR, financial institutions are sharing additional information which forms part of your credit report, providing a more in-depth view of your credit history. This information includes the type of accounts you hold, when they were opened, your credit limit(s), and up to 24 months of your repayment history – including payments made on time.
If you make your repayments on time, your credit score will reflect your good payment behaviour. This means lenders may look at this information more favourably if you have requested credit. If you’ve had difficulty in the past making repayments on time, but are now back on track, this will be considered in your loan application and may impact your ability to obtain credit.
Changes to financial hardship arrangements
From 1 July 2022, new financial hardship arrangements entered into are required to be reported. This information will be listed under financial hardship information in your Credit Report. The credit reporting system will now be much clearer and will accurately reflect your credit history.
Financial hardship arrangements help to prevent missed payments from being recorded on your credit report and negatively impacting your credit score during a financial hardship event. This is to protect you while we work together to get you back on your feet.
Financial hardship assistance must be applied for and is subject to assessment and approval.
Protecting your privacy
Your privacy and the privacy of your information is important to us. Your data will be protected at all times by the Privacy Act, and we’ve recently updated our Privacy Policy to ensure your continued protection.
You can review our Privacy Policy at any time on our website to find out how we collect, share and manage your data, or request a copy by calling us on 13 25 77.
Your credit reporting questions answered
Your credit report shows how many times you’ve applied for credit and which loans you've opened and your history of making repayments, any defaults, and how much debt you currently have. This is very important information as it tells the new credit provider how you’ve treated those debts, which gives an indication about how you’re likely to treat the new debt.
It includes information that is needed to identify you - name; birth date; and recent addresses; current or last known employer’s name; driver’s licence number (if you have one).
Your credit report helps us determine your suitability for credit (loan) products, like home loans, personal loans or credit cards. When you apply for a home loan, personal loan or credit card with us we will check your credit report. We will also record your application for credit.
You can access your own credit report using the credit reporting bodies outlined on the CreditSmart website.
We use the following Credit Reporting Bodies (CRB's):
Equifax
PO Box 964
North Sydney NSW 2059
Tel: 1300 762 207
Illion
PO Box 7083
Sydney NSW 2001
Tel: 13 23 33
You may obtain the privacy policies of each of these CRBs dealing with their management of credit-related information, by contacting them via the details above.
Your credit-related information cannot be used by a CRB for direct marketing. However, credit providers can ask CRBs to use your credit reporting information to pre-screen you for direct marketing purposes. You have the right to inform a CRB not to do this using the contact details above.
If you believe on reasonable grounds that you are, or have been or are likely to be, a victim of fraud you can ask the CRB not to use or disclose your credit reporting information for an initial period of 21 days
In Australia, everyone has the right to one free credit report per year from each of the three main credit reporting bodies. These reports include the information that credit providers see when you apply for a loan or credit, so it’s important to check each report for any errors.
It's worthwhile getting a copy of your credit report before you apply to borrow money or buy something on credit, if you're eligible to. Checking your own credit report has no impact on your credit report or credit score when viewed by a credit provider.
You can access your credit report from the following organisations:
If you want to access your credit report more than once per year you can also choose to pay for an additional one from some of these organisations.
Credit providers are looking for the following key indicators on your credit report to show that you are a good prospective customer:
- Stability – for example, credit providers want to make sure that you haven’t moved house too many times over a short period.
- Not too much credit – this includes credit that you’ve taken out, but also credit that you’ve simply applied for.
- Good payment history – credit providers want to see that you’re made your payments on time. Don’t worry if you’ve missed the occasional payment by a few days. One of the good things about the credit reporting system is that each payment you do make on time will make you look better to credit providers. If you think you’ve missed (or will miss) more than an occasional payment, it's best to speak to your lender about it.
- No nasty stuff – this includes defaults, bankruptcy information and court judgments. These types of things will make it harder for you to get credit (at least until they fall off your credit report in 5-7 years).
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