Credit score - not as good as I'd thought

Please note this sub-forum does not provide professional finance advice. You should seek advice from a licensed financial advisor.

To post in this sub-forum you must have made 100 posts or have Trust status or have completed our ID Verification.

If investing please consider our affiliate link for new accounts: Sharesies.

Forums › Finance and wealth management › Credit score - not as good as I'd thought

kingdragonfly

11985 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12867

Subscriber

#242322 22-Oct-2018 09:27

I got a new job. As part of my background check, they got my credit report, and sent me a copy. You can check your credit report for free.

https://www.govt.nz/browse/consumer-rights-and-complaints/debt-and-credit-records/check-your-own-credit-report/

Mine was from Vedascore plus.

It is 766 / 1000, which doesn't seem great.

https://www.finder.com.au/equifax-score

I have a good paying job, in the last 20 years always paid my debts ahead of time, have a house that's nearly paid off, hardly use my credit cards.

By the way, here's the values for the scorecard
* ADVRS: Adverse scorecard used
* CLN1A: Clean/1 - application or new to Bureau
* CLNSH: Clean/shallow scorecard - no adverse and 2-6 inquiries returned
* CLNDP: Clean/deep scorecard - no adverse and more than 6 inquiries returned

Here's a couple of facts I came across.

Vedascore is Equifax. In the states, they had a massive data breach. From Fortune magazine:

"On Sept. 7, 2017, Equifax revealed that months-long illegitimate access to its credit-report databases had led to the breach of personally identifiable information of over 143 million people, nearly all in the U.S. The total number grew through March 2018 to over 148 million affected.

The company waited six weeks to disclose the breach."

For non-US citizens, I don't trust them to tell the extent of their breach. They're not going to willingly supply the information until the Australia and NZ governments force them to do so.

Here's also disturbing on their website:

"Every time you apply for a credit product, the credit provider obtains a copy of your file and the application is noted.

If you've shopped around for credit and applied at a number of places in one space of time, it flags you as a higher risk. The pattern of credit enquiries over time also affects the level of risk."

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ... | 11

8862 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9539

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#2112095 22-Oct-2018 09:30

Vedascore is Equifax.

Yeah, I chuckled when I saw the "applied intelligence" motto at the top.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

Linux

12174 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 8469

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2112096 22-Oct-2018 09:31

Mine has just gone to 800 sat on 787 for ages on credit simple and I always pay my credit card in full every month never had an overdue bill got money invested

Nothing on HP I don't know how anyone could reach 1000

John

Edit: I also subscribe to the yearly Veda credit alerts if someone tries to get credit under my name

SaltyNZ

8862 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9539

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#2112099 22-Oct-2018 09:40

Capricorn, huh? Glad to see the credit reporting is based on science facts!

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

Linux

12174 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 8469

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2112100 22-Oct-2018 09:40

SaltyNZ:

Capricorn, huh? Glad to see the credit reporting is based on science facts!

@SaltyNZ I thought the same thing when I saw that, I was like WTF how stupid oh and my 2degrees monthly account is in credit by almost $200

John

hairy1

3352 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 644

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2112107 22-Oct-2018 09:53

I think the credit score is based on your ability to pay bills off so if you have more debt and pay it off on time your credit scores goes up.

If you have no debt they cannot see that you are a good bill payer so poor credit score...

It's a flawed methodology.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

ObidiahSlope

260 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 66

#2112109 22-Oct-2018 10:14

Don't sweat your credit score too much. It is after all simply a logarithm trying to predict the outcome of future events based on limited information. The ratio shown in the report shows computer reckons you have a 50:1 change of defaulting on your loan which while not perfect is pretty reasonable.

If it stays low you may have to do extra work convincing lenders of your credit worthiness. Disclosing your pay record and bank transactions can give a lender reassurance of you being a good lending risk. Some lenders have a "computer says no" ethos. If you strike this move on, after all you would favour giving your business to a lender who makes more than a superficial risk assessment.

While not discouraging you from standing up for yourself where necessary you should avoid getting entangled in repeated credit disputes. This would be a big red flag to any lender.

Obsequious hypocrite

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

SirHumphreyAppleby

2938 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1860

#2112119 22-Oct-2018 10:44

hairy1:

I think the credit score is based on your ability to pay bills off so if you have more debt and pay it off on time your credit scores goes up.

If you have no debt they cannot see that you are a good bill payer so poor credit score...

It's a flawed methodology.

It is flawed, but sadly we see this everywhere. If people don't fit in to their boxes, they are just treated as a bad risk. There doesn't seem to be any common sense applied anymore.

A major bank wouldn't give me a credit card recently, because I refused to provide them with the absolutely absurd amount of documentation they wanted to verify my income (mostly passive). They couldn't care less about the fact that I had sufficient cash to pay off the card many times over. I felt I would be more valued as a customer if I could barely make ends meet. Debt is worth more than people who pay their bills in full each month.

ObidiahSlope

260 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 66

#2112142 22-Oct-2018 11:43

You think the current methodology is bad?

There was a company several years ago trying to flog off software to the credit reporting industry which would produce a credit score from your social media posts.

Obsequious hypocrite

marej

186 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#2112375 22-Oct-2018 18:22

There are only a limited set of circumstances that employers can genuinely ask for this. What other information did the employer receive - credit cards etc?

I recently refused to consent to one.

kingdragonfly

11985 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12867

Subscriber

#2112391 22-Oct-2018 18:52

The job is for a government agency that has security clearances; I'm not sure if that's the reason they asked for a credit report.

I have no reason not to let them see my credit report as part of a background check, but that's just me.

elpenguino

3576 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2938

#2112396 22-Oct-2018 19:02

That's understandable cos money or lack thereof will make some people vulnerable to manipulation.
Tom Clancy 101...

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2112401 22-Oct-2018 19:09

It'll be quite good when the CCP have finished beta-testing the "Social Credit System" - finding glitches in the way data is harvested from social media etc, tied in with credit records, tracking, and getting the system working in the best possible manner.

It should provide a competitive edge in the market - so perhaps it's not a question of whether democratic capitalist nations will reject it, but how they're going to adopt it. We kind of do it in different ways - for example the CCP model: "If the parents of a child score below a certain threshold, their children would be excluded from top schools in the region." which is something most capitalist nations seem to manage anyway, the threshold being wealth, rather than objective merit assessed by universal data collation and analysis - which might be seen to be a fairer system.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2112402 22-Oct-2018 19:15

elpenguino: That's understandable cos money or lack thereof will make some people vulnerable to manipulation.
Tom Clancy 101...

But wait - so (very clearly) are some wealthy people - so it's a question of morality not $$$.

mudguard

2327 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1250

#2112403 22-Oct-2018 19:16

SirHumphreyAppleby:

A major bank wouldn't give me a credit card recently, because I refused to provide them with the absolutely absurd amount of documentation they wanted to verify my income (mostly passive). They couldn't care less about the fact that I had sufficient cash to pay off the card many times over.

The problem the bank sees, if you have the cash, then why do you need the credit card? Especially if you don't want to verify your income. Leave the cash in your account and use a Visa debit?

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2112406 22-Oct-2018 19:30

mudguard:

SirHumphreyAppleby:

A major bank wouldn't give me a credit card recently, because I refused to provide them with the absolutely absurd amount of documentation they wanted to verify my income (mostly passive). They couldn't care less about the fact that I had sufficient cash to pay off the card many times over.

The problem the bank sees, if you have the cash, then why do you need the credit card? Especially if you don't want to verify your income. Leave the cash in your account and use a Visa debit?

The bank simply wants to make as much money as possible.

CC is very handy to manage cashflow for an individual or small business, at low cost if you've got the discipline to plan and pay off the balance on time.
Simultaneously with growth of CCs, they've collectively got rid of reasonable % interest-bearing savings accounts where you can withdraw at any time without penalty.

They've obfuscated their way to billions in profits. New Zealanders have been sold on the concept that the Australian-owned banks who pillaged their citizens are "good corporate citizens" in NZ. ROFL.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ... | 11