How comprehensive credit reporting affects you

Comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) is a new initiative that requires banks to report your positive credit behaviours to credit reporting bodies. Until now, lenders only needed to let the credit reporting bodies know about your negative behaviours (such as missing payments), so these were the only details recorded on your credit report. Being able to include positive factors, like meeting your minimum monthly loan repayments on time, is what makes this new style of reporting ‘comprehensive’.

As you know, your credit score is a reflection of your credit report. We get your credit report from Experian, one of the three credit reporting bodies in Australia, who - in turn - get your information from banks and lenders. So, more data being added to your credit report means your score is likely to change, as there will be more factors influencing it. Positive behaviours (like meeting your credit card repayments on time) could give your score a boost as they’re proof that you’re capable of borrowing sensibly.

CCR should give lenders a more comprehensive view of how much of a risk you present to them. With more positive behaviours reflected in your credit score, which could mean a higher score overall, you’re more likely to be accepted for credit and at lower interest rates.

At the moment, only the ‘Big 4’ Australian banks (CBA, ANZ, Westpac and NAB) are required to follow comprehensive credit reporting. This means if you’ve borrowed money from any other banks or lenders, any positive behaviours you display might not appear on your credit report. But other lenders have and will continue to adopt this new initiative sooner rather than later in a bid to remain competitive.

Here’s a list of the factors that will be visible on your credit report from now on:

You don’t need to do anything to see these changes - they’ll start appearing automatically on your next credit report. But if you want to make the most of CCR, it’s a good idea to make sure your behaviours are ones you’d want to see on your report (and, more importantly, ones you’d be happy for lenders to see).

Checking your report regularly is an easy way to see what you’re doing well and how you can improve. Remember that positive credit behaviours are likely to boost your score and increase your chances of being accepted for credit cards, loans and more.