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Frequently Asked Questions
What can be in the consumer-credit section of a credit file?
- Loan enquiries made in the past five years for household, personal or family purposes or to purchase, re-finance or renovate a residential investment property, or where you have gone guarantor for someone else with respect to consumer credit
- Details of any debts including serious credit infringements and debts that are overdue by 60 days or more
The following information can also be included in credit reports:
- Credit account information including:
- Type of credit account such as a credit card or personal loan
- Account open date and close dates
- Credit limit. This is the maximum amount of credit available to you for an account. If you accept a credit limit increase the new credit limit could be included on your credit history.
- Monthly repayment history on credit accounts such as mortgages and credit cards. This will reflect whether you paid the minimum amount required on your financial commitments each month on time or not.
What can be in the commercial-credit section of a credit report?
- Enquiries relating to commercial credit or risk management. Generally speaking, these enquiries relate to you as a sole trader, business partner, property investor or director of a company
- Details of any overdue commercial credit accounts owed by you, or where you have gone guarantor
- The names of credit providers currently providing loans to you
- Enquiries made by a third party such as a finance broker or other authorised agent acting on your behalf
- Notes regarding matters under investigation, or previous investigations where no amendment was made to your credit file and you requested a note be added to your file
Public record information
Public record information includes things like bankruptcy, insolvency, debt agreements, court writs and judgements. When you get a copy of your credit report this information will form part of the consumer credit section of the report.
Your Equifax Score is calculated based on the information held in your credit report at a given point in time. It is a number between 0-1200 and in simple terms, a higher credit score is considered better as it indicates lower risk. Your Equifax Score is dynamic and will change as information is added to and deleted from your credit report.
If you've got a low Equifax Score, your credit applications may only be approved by lenders that charge a much higher interest rate or you may have difficulty gaining access to credit at all.
INFOGRAPHIC: What information goes into your credit profile and what can it be used for?
There are a number of key contributing factors that are taken into consideration when generating your Equifax Score:
Type of credit provider
The type of credit provider making an enquiry on your credit report may impact your Equifax Score. E.g. there may be different levels of risk associated with approaching a bank, store finance provider, hire-purchase and utility company for credit.
What’s more, research shows that there’s a different level of risk associated with lenders in particular industries. E.g. a non-traditional lender may have a different level of risk than a bank or credit union.
The type and size of credit requested in your application
Both the type of credit and size of the loan or credit limit you have applied for in the past can have an impact on your Equifax Score. E.g. mortgages, credit cards, personal loans and store finance may carry different levels of risk.
Number of credit enquiries and shopping patterns
Every time you apply for credit and a credit provider obtains a copy of your report, an enquiry is added to your credit report. This can include any loan, mortgage or utilities applications you may make.
Shopping around for credit and applying to a number of different credit providers within a short space of time may negatively impact your Equifax Score. It flags you as a greater risk than infrequent applications for credit with a few credit providers.
Directorship and proprietorship information
Directorship and proprietorship information on a credit report may impact your Equifax Score. If you’re a director or a proprietor it’s important to check the individual and commercial sections of your credit report.
Age of credit report
The date your credit report was created may impact your Equifax Score. E.g. a relatively new file may indicate a different level of risk than an older report.
Pattern of credit enquiries over time
The spread of activity over the credit report’s life to date can have an impact on your Equifax Score. E.g. a relatively new credit file with many enquiries may represent a different level of risk than an older file with only a few credit enquiries.
Personal details
Your Equifax Score takes into consideration personal details such as age, length of employment and length of time at your current residential address to assess risk.
Default information
Default information in your personal or business credit report such as overdue debts, serious credit infringements or clearouts may negatively impact your Equifax Score, while a lack of default information in your file may positively affect your score.
Court writs and default judgements
A court writ or default judgement on a credit report is an indicator of increased risk and may negatively impact your Equifax Score. Conversely, a lack of court writ or default judgement information would indicate a reduced level of risk.
Commercial address information
Information such as location and the length of time you have resided at your current business address is a measure of stability and may impact your Equifax Score.
LEARN MORE: Check out our infographic to learn what information goes into your credit profile and what it can be used for.
Your Equifax Score is displayed as a number as well as a percentile range, showing where your Equifax Score sits in relation to other credit-active Australians held in our credit reporting database. Our Equifax Scores (which you’re compared to) are reviewed regularly, and the algorithm adjusted where necessary to account for population and economic changes. To provide you with an understanding of where your score sits compared to others, we use a risk grade:
- Below Average (Bottom 20%) - Based on history, scores in this category indicate that an adverse event such as a default, court judgement, personal insolvency or similar, is more likely to be recorded on a credit file in the next 12 months when compared to the average credit active Australian population as recorded on Equifax’s credit bureau.
- Average (21% - 40%) - Based on history, scores in this category indicate that an adverse event such as a default, court judgement, personal insolvency or similar, is likely to be recorded on a credit file in the next 12 months when compared to the average credit active Australian population as recorded on Equifax’s credit bureau.
- Good (41% - 60%) - Based on history, scores in this category indicate that an adverse event such as a default, court judgement, personal insolvency or similar, is less likely to be recorded on a credit file in the next 12 months when compared to the average credit active Australian population as recorded on Equifax’s credit bureau. In other words, the odds of no adverse events occurring on your credit file in the next 12 months are better than the average population odds. Hence this score has been classed as the good population grade.
- Very Good (61% - 80%) - Based on history, scores in this category indicate that an adverse event such as a default, court judgement, personal insolvency or similar, is unlikely to be recorded on a credit file in the next 12 months when compared to the average credit active Australian population as recorded on Equifax’s credit bureau. In other words, the odds of no adverse events occurring on your credit file in the next 12 months are more than 2 times better than the average population odds. Hence this score has been classed as the very good population grade.
- Excellent (81% - 100%) - Based on history, scores in this category indicate that an adverse event such as a default, court judgement, personal insolvency or similar, is highly unlikely to be recorded on a credit file in the next 12 months when compared to the average credit active Australian population as recorded on Equifax’s credit bureau. In other words, the odds of no adverse events occurring on your credit file in the next 12 months are more than 5 times better than the average population odds. Hence this score has been classed as the excellent population grade.
The way your Equifax Score is used in practice by credit providers may differ to the way we display it in your Equifax Credit & Identity portal. In addition to your Equifax Score, each provider applies their own lending criteria and policies, which is why some lenders may approve your application for credit while others may not.
If you’re curious about what your Equifax Score is and how you compare to others, check out our annual subscription packages today. If you would like a copy of your free Equifax credit report you can find more information here.
Ordering a copy of your Equifax credit file, will not negatively impact your Equifax Score. In fact, it may help you improve your score by identifying whether information needs correcting on your credit report or if you’ve been the victim of identity theft. If this is the case, you can contact the credit provider for more information and, if necessary, seek an investigation.
To find out what your Equifax Score is, as well as track it over time sign up to our Equifax Plus or Equifax Basic annual subscription packages.
If you would like your free Equifax credit report you can get a copy here. Note, your free credit report does not include your Equifax Score.
Your Equifax Score is an important number that summarises the information in your Credit File at a point in time and is expressed as a number between 0 and 1200. Your Equifax Score is dynamic and will change as information is added to and deleted from your credit report. In simple terms, the higher your Equifax Score, the better your credit profile which is an indication that you may be more likely to be accepted for credit.
If you’ve got a low Equifax Score, your credit applications may only be approved by lenders that charge a much higher interest rate or you may have difficulty gaining access to credit at all.
When you receive your Equifax Score as part of an Equifax Credit & Identity annual subsciption package, you’ll also receive a list of score factors – things that have influenced your score. This can give some insight into what you’re doing well and what areas might need some work, so you can improve your score over time.
You can also get a copy of your free Equifax credit report here. Note this does not include an Equifax Score.
Knowing your Equifax credit score may help you negotiate a better rate with some lenders. If you're applying for credit, or are planning to in the future, it's important to understand your Equifax Score.
Your Equifax Score is dynamic and predicts the likelihood of an adverse event, like a default, being recorded on a credit report within the next 12 months. Your Equifax Score shows where you sit in relation to other credit-active Australians in our credit-reporting database. This may be used by lenders as part of the credit assessment process; however, lenders will also use their own criteria and policies when assessing your application not only your Equifax Score.
