Your credit report is more important to you than you think.

credit-report

A few months ago, I wrote a blog article about my encounter with one of the local banks that rejected my request to increase credit card limit for no good reason. I mentioned I had an “AA” CBS Credit Score from Singapore Credit Bureau. A lot of readers wrote in to ask me how can they check their credit score. I have compiled the information to give you this completed guide to Credit Report in Singapore.

Unknown to many people, the credit report is more important than you think in your day to day life. Most lenders will check your credit file to assess your creditworthiness prior to lend you money, so whenever you apply for a bank loan such as a mortgage loan, car loan or even credit card, the banks will check your record behind the scene. Naturally, good credit repayment history will make it easier for you to obtain credit and to qualify for loans. At the same time, any credit-related information will be uploaded on your credit file.

Monitoring your credit file will also protect against possible fraudulent use of your personal details to obtain credit.

Credit Bureau (Singapore) Pte Ltd (CBS) is Singapore’s most comprehensive consumer credit bureau that has full-industry uploads from all retail banks and major financial institutions. It is a joint venture between The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and Infocredit Holdings Pte Ltd.

CBS aggregates credit-related information amongst participating members and presents a more complete risk profile of a customer to credit providers. This helps credit providers to determine the likelihood of the customer repaying, thus enhancing their risk assessment capabilities.

What is a Credit Report

In short, your credit report is a record of your credit payment history compiled from different credit providers. Your credit report gives you and the banks a snapshot of your credit repayment capability. The report will give lenders, credit card issuers and banks a full picture of your financial standing, and help them make the decision over whether you should be issued with a credit card, given a loan, or even have your credit limit increased.

A sample of a credit report will look like this (click to enlarge)

sample-credit-report

 

sample-credit-report-2

If you notice the colourful bar in the sample showing “HH” to “AA”, it is the Risk Grade corresponding to the Credit Score.

What Is A Credit Score?

A Credit Score is a number used by lenders as an indicator of how likely an individual is to repay his debts and the probability of going into default. It is an independent assessment of the individual’s risk as a credit applicant.

A CBS Credit Score is a four-digit number based on your past payment history on your loan accounts. The score range from 1000 to 2000, where individuals scoring 1000 have the highest likelihood of defaulting on a payment, whereas those scoring 2000 have the lowest chance of reaching a delinquency status.  Below is the table showing the Risk Grades and Probabilities of Default for the respective Score Ranges.

descriptions-of-credit-score

Your credit score is just one factor used in the application process. Other factors apart from your credit report, such as your annual salary, length of employment, bankruptcy/litigation information, number of credit facilities may also be taken into consideration by lenders during a loan application.

Do note that CBS neither “blacklist” nor play a part in the lending approval decision which is fully undertaken by lenders and its lending policies. CBS instead, only provides specific factual credit-related information about consumers who have credit or loan facilities to the lenders.

6 factors that affect your Credit Score

1. Utilization Pattern

This refers to the amount of credit amount owed/used on accounts by individuals.

2. Recent Credit

Lenders may perceive that you are over-extending yourself if you have newly booked credit facilities within a short period of time. Therefore, consumers are advised to apply for new credit in moderation.

3. Account Delinquency Data

The presence of delinquency (late payment) on your loan accounts will reduce your credit score.

4. Credit Account History

A consumer with long-established credit history is deemed to be more favourable or a reliable borrower when compared to one who has a limited or no credit history. Accounts with a history of prompt payments will help to boost your credit rating.

12 months of account repayment conduct (closed and defaulted accounts are also included) as displayed under the Account Status History in your credit report is used for score calculation.

5. Available Credit

This refers to the number of accounts available (open or active) for credit.

6. Enquiry Activity

This refers to the number of new application enquiries found in your credit report.

Each time a potential bank/financial institution pulls your credit report in response to a new loan application, an enquiry is placed on your file. Having too many enquiries in your credit report indicate to lenders that you are trying to take on more debt, therefore increasing your credit exposure.

To keep your enquiries to a minimum, try to limit the number of loan facilities and credit cards that you apply for. (Review enquiries on existing loan facilities do not affect your score.)

Additional Reading: 5 tips you can use to improve your credit score.

Where can I get my Credit Report?

You can request a copy of your credit file online, at any of the 62 SingPost branches, at the Credit Bureau office, at CrimsonLogic Service Bureaus or at the CASE office.

A transaction fee of $6 plus GST applies.

You can also subscribe to ‘My Credit Monitor’ service, which checks your report daily and notifies you by email when key changes are detected. Early detection is key to minimising the damage that ID theft can have on your credit.

Free Credit Report

With effect from 1st April 2016, consumers who have applied for a new credit facility with any of CBS member banks or financial institutions are entitled to a free credit report. View list of CBS members.

Credit applicants will now receive a notification letter informing them of the credit application approval or rejection statuses. With this approval or rejection letter, you are able to obtain a free credit report from CBS within 30 calendar days from the date of approval or rejection letter.

The new industry initiative aims to better facilitate consumers’ ability to verify the accuracy and completeness of their credit data by providing a credit report free of charge upon a New Application enquiry has been conducted by any of CBS members in the last 30 days. CBS will extend the free report to the individual when he/she makes the request in person at the CBS office or online via the CBS website.

Where there is no enquiry conducted by a Member when an individual has applied for a new credit facility, he/she can visit CBS in person to obtain a complimentary copy of his report with the letter issued by Member indicating a credit application was made.

In the event that enquiry was not conducted by that member and credit application was rejected without receiving the letter, please contact the respective Member for clarification.

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About the Author

Ivan Guan is the author of the popular book "FIRE Your Retirement". He is an independent financial adviser with more than a decade of knowledge and experience in providing financial advisory services to both individuals and businesses. He specializes in investment planning and portfolio management for early retirement. His blog provides practical financial tips, strategies and resources to help people achieve financial freedom. Follow his Telegram Channel to join the FIRE community.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. This does not reflect the official position of any agency, organization, employer or company. Refer to full disclaimers here.

  • I am a EP holder and when I try to get the credit report, its get my personal details from SingPass. I understand for EP, all the credits will be registered under the passport number instead of FIN number. How to get the credit report via passport number?

    Note: My credit score shows GX. which is a NON-RISK score.

    • Hi, Hari,

      Based on what I know, you can call the Consumer Services hotline at 6565 6363 to request an ID merger so that your passport number and FIN will generate the same report.

  • Hi Ivan,

    Year 2016 when im holding EP have outstanding with my credit card and repayment monthly until this year finish clear all the outstanding. 2017 my PR has been approve and I purchase CBS report show that no record with credit GX, may I know if this scenario I still can getting any loan from other bank, and all bank and CBS will auto combine my CBS credit atomically?

  • Hi,

    Ever since i stopped workinf n became a housewife, i stopped earning an income in 2014. This year, i constantly face late payments due to unable to maintain fund in the account and now resulting in card being cancelled. I think my credit bureau report is sure going to be bad and have problem applying for cards in future. Is it possible to recover this issue if i were to make proper payments in future once i started working? If so, how long will it takes for it to recover?

  • Dear Ivan,

    I would like to understand what is personal online request under (previous enquires). New application self single. Kindly advice.

  • Under previous enquirers – name of bank listed as personal online request new application self single account what does that mean? Because i no personal loan at all?

  • Keeping your debt at a manageable level is one of the foundations of good financial health.
    Great and informative article indeed! Thank you so much for sharing this one with me.

  • Hi Ivan

    I reviewed my CBS report. Though I have made settlement to my $500 credit card default 3 years ago and car hire had withdrawn statutory demand since 2015, I have a HX grade. Otherwise all A ratings.

    As I need to apply home loan and bank said there’s still a bankruptcy suit existing (the car hire), may I know what’s the best way to resolve the HX grade? So far 2 credit card applications have not succeeded.

  • Hi Ivan,

    I’m a director and major shareholder of Singapore registered Pte
    Ltd company. Recently a bank in Malaysia requested to print my company’s cbs report for supporting a guarantee loan. Where and how can I print this report?

  • Strangr i have a credit rating of HX recently.

    I have never defaulted any cards. Sometimes i make advanced payments instead..

    Annual income ard 200k recently..

    Did a car loan lately of 100k for 5yrs… my se sourced for 3 banks and assigned me to maybank at a slightly lower interest than the other 2.

    But i think this 2 other applications is being indicated in credit bureau…

    My monthy card usage is ard 5k and all settled immediately usually.

    Thus strange how come they put me hx.

    Cheers

  • Hi Ivan,
    In 2011, I am in bad debt situation and even have 1 bank go into default record and shown in my credit burea report. Shortly, I have make payment and clear all the amount to all banks in the same year. But due to default payment, the default status was remained in the credit burea report for 5 years. As time passed, now my credit burea record is clean with GX status. Somehow, I still have difficulties to apply loan and credit card. Even I went to some fiancé company, they mentioned that they are still able to track my default status which I don’t which platform to use to do risk assessment. Can you please advise on this matter.

      • Dear Ivan,

        So far i have tried several loan and card application. but i still cant get any of it approved. Something make me curious is that, how does other finance companies tracked my default record where is dose not shown in credit burea report anymore. if such record still shown in other platform (not CBS) which i don’t where it is and i am not able to remove it. Then theses record will follow me till the rest of my life.

  • Hi Ivan,

    May I please check how probable is it for the bank to approve credit applications for someone with HZ status? One of my accounts got loaded with H status. All my other accounts are A status. Overall my credit rating has dropped to HZ.

    Can I appeal to the bank personally to approve my credit applications?

    Thanks alot!

    Alfred

  • Hi,

    I just wonder with HH credit rating, am i able to get small amount loan from bank? if bank doesn’t approve my small amount loan, how can i improve my credit rating? Bank did not approve any credit card application or loan, how am i able to show them i am a good payer?

  • Hi Ivan;
    Q1:
    I am having HH score in my credit report from CBS and these was due to some previous late payment record on my credit card. If I intend to have full settlement of those outstanding amount on Credit Card, will CBS report reflect / update the score status once I have settled? If no, how long do you think its will take to improve my scoring ?

    Q2:
    Besides CBS, any others service provider for generating the credit report ? If yes, it’s that recognised in Singapore?

    Hope you can enlighten me further.
    Thanks.

    • Hi, Vin Chew,

      Generally you need to remind the bank to update Credit Bureau to update the record, otherwise they will take a long time.

      Most of the financial institution will access your situation based on CBS record.

    • Hi, Gary,

      GX means there was no credit history. It is generally not very good if you want to obtain new loans because it is hard for the bank to ascertain the borrow’s credit worthiness.

      • Thank you for the advice. So, how can i improve from this situtation?
        I am not in debt with any bank, and also i am taking up HDB loan for my new house. Will it actually affect? So kinda worry for this part.

        Cheers!

      • Hello Ivan,

        Thank you for the update. I also got the same status and was wondering how can get a credit history recorded. Not sure how to go about it. Your help is highly appreciated.

  • Hi there,

    Just got my Credit report today and it shown GX status.

    May i know, what does GX really stand for? Is it good or bad?

    Thank you so much.

  • hi sir,
    I found out that my credit report is HH.I had 2 outstanding balanceservice in 2010 and 2014 but I had cleared with full settlement in 2015 and early 2016. I try apply for credit cards many of time and banks rejected me. Is it due to I had alots of new enquiries that my report become HH? I wanted to apply for renovation loan will it affected and get reject?

  • Hi Sir
    I am a Long term visit pass holder residing in Singapore from past 3 years.I am working here.Am I eligible. For a Credit bureau report as I need this report in India my hometown to apply for a home loan.i don’t have any credit card or anything in Singapore.i just have a normal bank account

  • Hi Ivan,

    Need to consult you.

    I have defaulted on my credit card account 8 years ago. After a 6 months of default i manged to pay the bank all the outstanding.

    However recently, the bank send a legal letter demanding the outstanding amount which i had already fully paid. I told the law firm that the outstanding already been cleared. The law firm insist that the outstanding is not settled yet and asked for prove. Obviously after 8 years i can’t produce any.

    Then i purchased a credit report from credit bureau and found out that there isn’t any records of the bank at all in my report. I have informed the law firm of my finding and they have gone silence since. Previously(many years back) there is a default record of this bank in my report when the outstanding is not settled. Obviously the bank has updated to credit bureau that the outstanding is already settled. I called credit bureau, and they said that all banks suppose to upload all accounts that are still in arrears or in default. However she refused to commit an answer when i asked her if the bank can still haul me to court where the credit report didn’t show any outstanding anymore.

    Could you advise if the bank has a case against me since the credit report indicated there is no outstanding with that bank? Does the rule say that the credit report record is final and the bank cannot pursue anymore as long as the outstanding is not in my credit report?

    Although the law firm has gone silence, i am still not comfortable with the situation. Could you advise whom can i seek assistance to settle this once and for all?

    Many thanks in advance.

    • Dear Cay

      Credit Bureau is a private company and its function is to help aggregate credit related information.

      The information still has to be provided by the bank, thus its report should not be treated as “final”. I suggest you contact the bank directly to obtain an official response as the lawyer is merely acting on the bank’s instruction.

  • Hi, i have a question to ask you. I have had credit cards and loan from some banks for quite some time and with a bank for nearly a year and have always made prompt payments. However, i am curious with my credit bureau record and recently tried to apply another loan but was rejected. I check my CB report and it was listed as GX and don’t seem to have any records on it. Can i ask why there is no record? Btw, i am an EP holder with a 6 figure yearly salary.

  • hi ivan,

    had default payment on 4yrs ago and was paid for negotiated settlement,but my credit report shows GX rating now.however i have been rejecting by the bank for credit card application .pls advise

  • Dear Ivan

    A non-Singaporean friend who has not worked in Singapore before has asked me to assist to purchase a credit report on himself. Just about every provider that I asked requires the original passport and letter of authorisation to be submitted. Would you know of anyway that I may purchase the credit report ?

    Thanks

  • Hi Sir,

    I am EP holder I told citibank credit card I couldn’t pay of fully so I changed to monthly plan I still have $2000 outstanding. My CBS status shows has HZ. My question is if I pay of full outstanding will my score changes imidetaly or still go till three years? Currently I am not getting approval for any credit card or loan? Please advice how do I improve the score.

  • Dear sir,

    I am a Ex EP holder at Singapore..Now am in India ..how to i get my credit score ..page is always shoe access denied.and also last week only i have settled my outstanding mobile balance..is there any issues to entry again tourist visa in sinapore..plz guide me

  • Dear Ivan,

    desperately need some advice here. I self petitioned for bkp in 2014 as i wanted to be on the drs scheme but withdrew before any court proceedings. I have since cleared all debts and cancelled all lines with except one with full settlement but i realised my credit score is still HX. on the cbs report it says 0 default and 0 bkp proceedings but can i ask when can this HX be cleared? Is there anything that can be done? Understand i filed for it.. but i was nv a bkp and i’m not sure what i can do now.

    looking forward to ur reply. thanks.

  • Hi, is the website shut down again. I m trying purchase online however, it prompted “access denied ” . Currently, I m oversea now

      • Hi Ivan
        I am also outside Singapore currently and getting the same error message even after trying outside the time window you mentioned. It seems the site can be accessed only while in SG.

  • Hi,

    I was wondering what does my grade means. i got GX. i am not sure what does it means. can you please help me to explain what does that mean? furthermore, i have tried to apply 2 credit cards, and all of them are UNSUCCESSFUL. it says here “Our reasons are confidential”.
    and what does it mean by “a free credit credit report is available to you.”

    I hope you help me answer all of these.

    Thank you.

    • Hi, Hafeez

      GX means “Inquiry record only (no Public Records / No Trades)”. It is likely because you did not have any credit card before so there is no credit history. You can try to apply through some local banks, I think you may have a chance to get a credit card if there is no other reason that they denied your application.

  • Hi Ivan,

    I have a credit score of HH due to involuntary termination of credit card but have paid up all outstanding amounts. How long should i wait before trying to apply for a new card? I saw that records are kept for 3 years.. Does that mean i can only apply after 3 years since i dont have any credit cards now?

  • Dear Ivan, thank you for the information and answering our questions. Appreciate if you could answer mine too. I found out I was rated HH due to involuntary termination of credit cards in nov 2015. I have paid up since they closed my cc account. May I know will my rating be changed or it will remain as HH forever? Thank you very much!

  • Hi Ivan,

    I just view my CB report and realised mine is HZ. what does it mean?

    I am presently working in a FA company as a non sale advisory role for few years but recetnly requires me to have rnf code in CIS with MAS.

    May I know will my CB report affect me on having a RNF code? I am afraid this will ruin my career.

    • Dear K

      A HZ risk grade generally means you have more than $300 outstanding balances for more than 90 days. You can check with your company’s compliance officer if it will affect your RNF application.

      Hope this helps

  • Hi

    My credit rating is HX.

    Most of the loans are already paid of with 2 bank loans outstanding. The default of 2 payments have been completely paid last month feb. can i know how long will it take for the default records to go off? and also when will HX be changed? As i have been paying all my loans promptly. and the last 2 loans which i m slowly paying will that affect the rating as well?
    Please advise?

    Pooh

  • Hi Ivan
    Thanks for ur reply. As i check my mum cbs she got CX, her house is fully paid , no credit card, loan etc. Her annual income is $29875, as the guarantor need min $30000. I told my car dealer n he say he will try to submit n now waiting result. Is it difficult to get our car bank loan approve since its her 1st time applying bank loan? And if it fail do i get the car deposit refund fully since try my best to get bank loan but fail.

    Thank you

    • Hi, Estee

      Yes, if she has not taken bank loan before, it is considered no credit history, and it is more difficult to get loan. Nevertheless, hope you have luck for this.

  • Hi Ivan

    I just checked my cbs report and i got HH, even though i have already cleared home loan reno, study loan and personal loan on last dec 2015. So left only my 4 cc loan but i have never miss pay the min amount every month. Right now i can cleared only 2 cc loan fully, so left only 2 cc loan which about 16k plus. Will the cbs change my HH status immediately so that the other bank can approve my car loan coz already made 10k deposit with dealer, dont want them to forfeit it if i can take bank loan or if i take finance company can easily approve? Dealer advise me to get guarantor, is there any min income to be a guarantor coz my mum is low income salary

    I hope u can explain me what should i do. I really clueless now.

    Thank you

    • Hi, Estee

      Normally it takes a while for the credit status to be updated and definitely you need a min income for the guarantor. Each finance company has a different requirement for the guarantor.

  • Hi! I don’t know if you’ll be able to help me out but it’s worth a try.
    A friend recently borrowed from several lending companies and used a mobile number which was registered under my name. She had not been paying her loans and some even found a way to call me on my own number. (I have two mobile accts one of which i let her use)
    My question is, will this affect my records too? Will i be affected in terms of applying loans, etc. Since the nunber she used was under mu name. I never borrowed any money and these companies keep on harrassing me. What can I do about this?

    • Hi, Hayley

      Sorry to hear about this. But I don’t think this will affect your credit record from the banks if you did not sign up any credit. You may want to report police to get this cleared.

  • Dear Ivan,

    I can across your website and you give great advice.,

    I have an American Express Credit Card debt since 2008 of $5000, They took me to court as I wasn’t able o pay due to the recession. I have left the country and again they have chased me by finding me by linkedin and called my company, I have negotiated to clear the debt by paying 10% of the debt.

    When paying off the debt, is there anything I should be asking the bank to do regarding my credit score etc before paying the debt off.

    Regards

    Liam

    • Hi, Liam

      The credit score is not only determined by this bank, but you do have to make sure that the bank updates the credit system once you pay off the debit. I heard sometimes the bank “forgot” to update even if the debit is cleared.

  • hi bro,
    i would like to check regarding my cb report that they put me under HH ratings.previously was because of old loans amount that the terminate it then i already made the full payment as settled already.
    just to check anyways that i can improve or change the HH ratings as most of the banks i applied for personal loans rejected me.

    hope u can give me some suggestions on the enquiries.

    Thank you

  • i got many credit card loan last time , after many yrs I finally left 2-3mths to clear all debts. Now attempting to get a HDB flat , but do u know roughly how long I need to wait till my CBS record back to normal in order I can apply a new housing loan? Coz I heard my friend said need to wait 6mths b4 bank will take my loan, it’s tat true?

  • Hello Sir , I was based in Singapore last 5 years and recently moved to India . I am trying to reach the Credit Bureau website

    http://www.creditbureau.com.sg/get-my-credit-report

    It gives me an error that ”
    —————————————————————————————-
    Access Denied

    You don’t have permission to access “http://www.creditbureau.com.sg/get-my-credit-report” on this server.
    Reference #18.87c733b8.1445408520.7604d9
    —————————————————————————————-

    May I know if the webste is actually down or Is it un available in other countries .In this senario , how can I avail my credit bureau report ?

    May Thanks
    Anu

  • Dear Ivan,
    Need ur advise …
    i need urgently to renovate my purchase resale house. Base on their officer assessment i can loan up to max $16K. However upon submission 2 bank rejected my application, with no reason given. I believe due to the last loan i take in year 2012 and already settled in 2014 and most is all late payment. But still i hv already settled them. How to clear my bad report reported in the credit bureau? can i appeal via mail to their officer?

    • Hi, Alomi

      Yes, you should appeal. Normally the bank would like to hear your reasons. You should also talk to the banks who you have long term relationship with as they can see your credit record and are more comfortable to loan you.

  • I’m wondering how accurate does the bank updates their records with CB. I only found out today that the cc account I closed 2 years ago has an outstanding balance of $2.50 and it’s giving me a GG status for the last 12 months though it was closed 2 years ago!! I longer have access to the account, I wasn’t inform of my outstanding of $2.50 for the last 12 months and it is ridiculous to find out through my credit report when that bank didn’t even have the courtesy to inform me about it! The best part I don’t even know how they derived with the amount and when I called the call centre they ask me to just pay it when they can’t provide me the computation.

  • What should I define the score shows as GX, it’s mentioned that Non-scored Risk Grades.

    Can you tell me more about the non-scored risk grades and what exactly it does have an understanding to a lender?

    Thank you,
    Surya Das

  • Hi,I’m a work permit holder from malaysia would like to know how to apply free credit bureau report or any charges will be how much?It is for my country reference please help thank you.

  • Dear Ivan, how can we repair our credit report if its bad? Im asking cos due to some outstanding credit card issues, my credit report has fallen into e HH side. It has been a few years since my payment has been totally cleared but still my credit report is not good.

    Any advice from your kind self? Would appreciate if u can drop me an email.

    Thanks.

    • Dear Wee

      That is a good question. There is no quick way to fix this but one effective way is to start borrow small and pay them off. In this way, you demonstrate to the bank that you have the ability to control your credit.

      You can also try some of the other methods here.

  • I had renovation loan rejected from 3 different banks. This is because I did not know that my closed and without outstanding credit card account status is still in the CBS records. Therefore, my credit report display these 3 banks making enquiry to CBS. CBS informed me that the credit account status will be erase in 2 weeks time. Would those enquiries affect my renovation loan if I would re-apply again?

  • I am trying to request for a copy of my credit file online and always be prompted the webpage cannot be found, I am overseas on business trip , can you teach me how to get a copy of my credit file online.

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