Everyone has a credit report that contains a complete record of their financial history. This includes account information, payment history, amounts owed, age of accounts, judgments, defaults, and a list of occasions on which credit providers requested to view your credit report. Together, these factors are considered to be a good indication of how likely you are to honour future credit commitments.
By law, South African citizens are entitled to one free credit report per year from one of the credit bureaus: TransUnion, Compuscan, Experian, and XDS. If you want to get more than one credit report in a year, you can get a second from any of the previously mentioned credit bureaus for a minimal fee. And, you can also get a free credit report from ClearScore.
It’s advisable that potential home buyers check their credit report before even starting to look for homes or applying for a home loan. As banks will look into your financial history and your application will be declined if you have a low credit score. The important thing is that your accounts are up to date and that you have the ability to afford the bond
Your credit score is typically a number from 0 to 999 and is calculated by using all the details on your credit profile. It reflects a ‘score’ summary of all your financial decisions, it’s often used by lenders, such as home loan and personal loan companies, to make accurate decisions on whether they should lend to you or not.
Your credit score is only one part of your credit report although it’s almost the single most important item on your credit report; the full report gives you some handy information. Your credit report is a combined summary of your financial background with an overview of your credit score, financial accounts, profile, and rating.
