Credit Bureau

A credit bureau collects a wide range of consumer credit information on individuals borrowing and bill paying from a variety of sources. This data is organized into a credit report, for which a credit score is disclosed.

The credit rating helps lenders analyse the anticipated consumer’s creditworthiness, and their ability to pay back a loan.

For example, a consumer with a low credit score would generally be a higher risk and so a lender notified by a credit bureau of such risk would probably only offer the consumer a higher interest rate loan, or may not offer a loan at all.

Consumers with a good higher credit score would probably be offered a lower loan interest rate.

The information received and collated by a credit bureau is available to customers for credit assessment, credit scoring or for other reasons such as employment decisions or apartment leaseholds.

Consumers are typically advised to review their own credit reports at least once per year, in order to ensure the information on their credit reports is accurate.

Credit bureaus provide credit monitoring which allows you to keep regular checks on credit scores, transactions and other factors influencing creditworthiness, and to receive alerts from the bureau concerning any suspicious activity to guard against identity fraud, theft, etc.