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The 4 Credit Bureaus in India: A comprehensive overview
- Published on: 5 Apr 2024
A credit bureau plays the critical role of collecting and analysing the financial data needed to generate your credit report and score. This is the simplest answer to the question, “What is a credit bureau?”, and four bureaus are operating under the RBI’s guidelines.
These credit bureaus have different methods to calculate your score, and financial institutions rely on various bureaus. Lenders and credit card issuers use the information in credit reports to evaluate your credit profile while processing an application for a loan or credit card.
As such, it is important to learn about these organisations and their functions. Read on for insights into the leading Indian credit bureaus and their scoring models.
Also Check: Check Your Credit Score Online
Here are all RBI-licenced credit score companies in India and their credit score range.
Founded in 2007, it is the first Indian credit bureau to offer full-service credit information. It received its licence from RBI in 2010 and is operational from Mumbai. The bureau conducts credit analysis for individuals and corporations.
It also provides:
The commercial credit score offered by the company ranges from 1-5 with 1 being the highest. For individuals, the range is as follows:
| Score | Remark |
|---|---|
| 700 to 900 | Good |
| 640 to 700 | Fair |
| 580 to 640 | Poor |
| 300 to 580 | Bad |
Experian received the licensing to gather individual and businesses’ credit details for score and report compiling in India in 2010. However, its history in exchanging credit information dates back to 1826. Today, it also provides other services, such as market insights, bureau analytics and portfolio insight.
For limited liability companies and partnerships, the score ranges between 1-10 but for individuals, it is as follows:
| Score | Remark |
|---|---|
| 800 and above | Excellent |
| 750 to 799 | Very good |
| 650 to 749 | Good |
| 550 to 649 | Fair |
| Below 549 | Poor |
Established in 1899, the company established its presence in India in 2010 and is among the trusted bureaus in India. It calculates your score by checking the credit history, length, defaults, utilisation ratio and other factors. Equifax also helps business investments grow and mitigate risk with analytical solutions.
For businesses, the bureau offers different metrics, including Payment Index (PI) and Commercial Delinquency Score (CDS). Both these range from 0-99 and 101-662, respectively and a lower score is considered good.
Here is a table to understand its credit score range for individuals.
| Score | Remark |
|---|---|
| 800 and above | Excellent |
| 740 to 799 | Very good |
| 670 to 739 | Good |
| 580 to 669 | Fair |
| Below 579 | Poor |
Also Read: CIBIL VS. Equifax Credit Report
CIBIL was incorporated in 2000 and is the first Indian credit bureau and is among the more commonly relied upon institutions. After TransUnion acquired the company in 2016, it was then recognised as TransUnion CIBIL.
To generate a comprehensive credit profile, it stores data regarding your repayment history, credit mix and other information from financial institutions. It also offers solutions for customer acquisition, analytics and consulting, collections management and more.
For companies, the CIBIL bureau offers a rank ranging from 1-10, and a rank closer to one is better.
For individuals, the credit score range is as follows:
| Score | Remark |
|---|---|
| 781 – 850 | Excellent |
| 721 – 780 | Good |
| 661 – 720 | Fair |
| 601 – 660 | Poor |
| 300 – 600 | Very poor |
To calculate your score, these bureaus consider many factors, such as:
Each non-Indian and Indian credit bureau analyses and calculates your score as per their internal mechanism based on these factors. This is why they have variable ranges. By being informed about these facts, you can improve your score and access credit easily.
This information also allows you to check your eligibility before applying. If you are looking for instant credit with easy-to-meet eligibility criteria, apply for a Fibe Instant Personal Loan.
You can avail of a loan of up to ₹5 lakhs with a flexible tenure and at attractive rates. We also don’t rely on credit scores and employ an alternate credit scoring mechanism. This allows us to offer credit even if you don’t have the ideal score. So, download the Personal Loan App or go to our website to apply now!
In India, there are four RBI-approved credit bureaus, which are:
There’s only one CIBIL score – calculated by TransUnion CIBIL and it is an accurate representation of your credit profile.
The TransUnion CIBIL is the oldest and one of the most popular bureaus in India.
CIBIL follows the regulation of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act of 2005 since receiving its licence from the RBI.
