Here is how to read your CIBIL Credit Information Report

A guide to understand your CIBIL Credit Information Report:

how to read your cibil credit information report

Mr. Lokesh Kamath, an IT professional, is prompt in paying his dues & has never defaulted on any of his repayments. Lokesh applied for a credit card and to his surprise, his application was rejected citing a bad credit score; Lokesh was in a state of shock, little did he knew that there was an error in his CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR), and it was none of his fault. Therefore it’s very important that you need to review your credit score at least once in a year. If you have been postponing the same because it costs money, here is some good news.

As per the announcement from RBI on September 01, 2016 it has been mandated for all the four Credit Information Companies (CICs) i.e. CIBIL, Experian, Equifax and Crif High Mark to issue one free full credit report (FFCR) in digital/ electronic form in a year effective January 01, 2017. This electronic report will be provided by the CICs on the request and due verification on the authenticity of the customer whose credit data is stored by the CICs, anytime during the calendar year. The Credit Information Companies has been directed by RBI to state the procedure on how to access the credit report on their website. This will enable you to access your credit rating from multiple bureaus and file petition if you come across any discrepancies.

What is a Credit Score?

A Credit Score is a 3 digit numeric summary of your credit history. The value ranges from 300-900. This score is derived from the Accounts and Enquiries section of your CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR). It is an indicator of the ‘probability of default’ of a borrower based on their credit history.

What is a CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR)?

The CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU INDIA LIMITED (CIBIL) Credit Information Report is a record of your credit payment history prepared by gathering information from banks and other financial institutions. It contains the details of the credit you have availed such as auto loan, home loan, personal loan, credit card, overdraft facilities, etc. The objective of the CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR) is to help loan providers in making informed lending decisions based on your credit history, swiftly and objectively.

However, a CIR does not contain the details of your savings, fixed deposits or investments.

Importance of CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR)

A CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR) is of high importance as it helps the banks and other lending institutions to review the credit worthiness of the borrower based on their credit payment history. It is important due to the following reasons:

• Understanding your Credit Report may help you to improve your Credit Score and take necessary measures to eliminate any red mark in your report.
• It can help you to nurture your financial goals by having better financial discipline.
• A better score can help you to negotiate on the interest rates offered on the loans.
• It gives the base to the banks and other lending institutions to check the credit worthiness of the borrower before extending any loan or a credit card.
• It helps in speeding up the loan approval process and mitigating the risk for the lenders by providing a detailed financial report.

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How to read your CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR)?

Your CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR) contains the following sections:

• CIBIL TransUnion Score
• Personal Information
• Data received through an Enquiry
• Contact Information
• Employment Information
• Account Information
• Enquiry Information
• Consumer Dispute Remarks

Let me take you through on the above information available in the CIBIL Report:

• CIBIL TransUnion Score

This score is widely used by the loan providers to evaluate your loan application. Your CIBIL Score ranges between 300-900 and is calculated based on the information stored in the ‘Accounts’ and ‘Enquiry’ section of the report. If your score is closer to 900, the loan provider will have more confidence in your ability to repay the loan. The higher the Credit Score, the better the chances of your loan application getting approved.

CIBIL Transunion ScoreAlso read: All that you wanted to know about your Credit Score

• Personal Information

This section contains your Name, Date of Birth and Gender as reported to CIBIL by the banks and other lending institutions.

Personal Information

• Data received through an Enquiry

Under this section, your Identification details on Income Tax ID (PAN), Passport, Voter ID, Driver’s Licence, etc. as reported by the lenders will appear. The symbol’(e)’ next to any of the details in your report indicates that the value is provided by the lender when you applied for a credit facility.

Data recieved through an enquiry

• Contact Information

Details such as your Address, Telephone/Mobile Number and Email Id as reported by the lenders will appear in this section.

Contact Information

• Employment Information

Under this section, information about your Occupation and Income (at the time of opening credit facility) based on the report submitted by the lender for a particular credit account, will appear.

Employment Information

• Account Information

It contains the details of your loans and credit cards, name of the lenders, type of credit facilities (such as home loan, auto loan, credit card, etc.), the account number/s, when each account was opened, whether the account is single or jointly held, last payment date, loan amount, amount overdue (if any), current balance and month on month record of up to 36 months of your payment. This part also reflects the information on any dispute.

Account Information
• Enquiry Information

Any time you apply for a loan or a credit card the respective lender accesses your CIR. This section contains the details of the enquiry made by the lender for your credit application such as the date of application, the name of the lender, type of loan and its size. If too many lenders enquire for your credit details (as you may have applied for loans or credit card with multiple lenders), it may make you appear “Credit Hungry” and impact you negatively.

Enquiry Information
• Consumer Dispute Remarks

In this section, you can add any additional comments/remarks to your Credit Report. These remarks will be available on your report for a year and will be displayed whenever your report is accessed by any credit institutions or by you.

Important terms and keywords used in your Credit Report

• AC (Asset Classification): Some banks reports DPD as per the asset classification norms defined by RBI as listed in the table below:

Asset Classification

• DPD (Days Past Due): It appears in the Account Information section of your Credit Report. It is an indication of the number of days the payment is late for a particular month. Anything other than “000” or “STD” is considered negative by the lender. Up to 36 months of the payment history with the most recent month history is first displayed. If “XXX” is reported for your DPD, it indicates that the bank has not reported the information for these months to CIBIL.

• Actual Payment Amount: It is the actual amount paid by you to your lender if it is different from your EMI amount. This amount may or may not be more than the EMI amount.

• Amount Overdue: It indicates the total amount which has not been paid to the lender on time (includes principal and interest amount).

• Cash Limit: This applies specifically to the credit card. It is the maximum amount of cash that you can withdraw from your credit card.

• CN (Control Number): It is your report number and is important if you want to raise a dispute request.

• Collateral: It is provided by the borrower to the lender as security to protect the lender in the case of inability of the borrower to repay the loan. It may be shares, property, gold, etc.

• Credit Limit: It applies to the credit card and overdraft facilities. It is the maximum amount of credit that you can avail with regard to the credit card or overdraft facility.

• Current Balance: It is the amount which you still owe on a particular credit facility. It is typically reported by the lenders to CIBIL after 30-45 days of your payment.

• EMI Amount: It is the amount that you pay monthly on your loan.

• Enquiry: It is added to your report when you apply for a credit card, or a loan and the lender decides to access your CIR. The date of the enquiry may differ from the actual application date as the lender may decide to access your CIR a day or more after your application date.

• High Credit: This applies to credit card and overdraft facilities. It reflects the highest ever bill amount (including interest and fees) for a particular credit card or overdraft.

• Ownership: This field helps the lender to identify the person responsible for making payment on loan or a credit card. 4 types of indicators can appear in your Credit Report:

Ownership
• Repayment Tenure: It is the tenure of your loan and should be read along with the “Payment Frequency” field to understand the term of the loan precisely. For example, 120 at a monthly payment frequency means that the loan tenure is 10 years.

• Sanctioned Amount: It is the loan amount that has been disbursed to you. It is applicable to the account type other than the credit cards and overdraft.

• Settlement Amount: In case of dispute on the loan amount to be paid, the lender and the borrower settle at some amount in between. This amount is what the lender believes is owed, and the borrower believes he/she should pay. The remaining amount is written-off by the lender.

• Suit-Filed/Wilful Default: If the lender has filed a suit against you, there is specific reporting prescribed by RBI as listed below:

 No suit filed/field will be blank
 Suit filed
 Wilful default
 Suit filed (Wilful default)

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• Written-Off amount (Principal): It reflects the principal amount written-off by the lender. The difference between the total and the principal amount written-off is the interest amount written-off in the account.

• Written-Off amount (Total): It reflects the total interest and the principal amount written-off.

• Written-Off and Settled Status: If this section is populated, the lender has restructured your loan by offering you different terms such as reduced interest rate or extended loan tenure, written-off the amount, or have settled for some amount less than what is believed to be owed. The possible values for this section are:

 Restructured loan
 Restructured loan (Govt. mandated)
 Written-Off
 Settled
 Post (WO) Settled

Subscription to CIBIL Score

CIBIL had introduced subscription services to get annual, half yearly or quarterly reports to track credit score on a regular basis. You need to visit the link below for the subscription:

Click here to subscribe for the CIBIL Score

Once you visit the above link, you will have the following three options available for the subscription:

1. Single purchase of CIBIL Score and Report by paying Rs. 550/-
2. Bi-Annual Subscription for 2 Scores Report in an year by paying Rs. 800/-
3. Quarterly Subscription to get 4 Score Reports in an year by paying Rs. 1,200/-

You can choose any one of the options mentioned above, fill the requisite information asked in the form and proceed with the payment to complete the subscription process. Once the subscription is done, you will get the reports in the email id provided in the form.

Also read: 7 Smart Ways to Increase Your CIBIL Score

Final Words

The above information will certainly help you understand your Credit Report and will allow you to take necessary measures to maintain/improve your credit score.

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