Which Credit Bureau Score Is Most Accurate In India?

Whenever you apply for a loan or a credit card, your credit score is reviewed by the lenders to determine if they would be willing to lend you money or not. However, if you have checked your score online, you may have seen different scores coming from different websites. The reason for this is that India has multiple credit bureaus. So, among various credit bureau scores, which one is the most accurate in India? Let’s find out the answer in the simplest way.

What Are Credit Bureaus?

Credit bureaus are those businesses whose main job is to gather and keep your credit information. They collect the information from banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and credit card issuers regarding your borrowers, payments, and defaults. They then determine your credit score. A credit score is a digit that represents how financially responsible you are based on that data.

In India, there are four major credit bureaus approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Is There Any Difference in Credit Scores from All Bureaus?

No, not always. Every bureau gathers information from diverse lending institutions and adopts its own method for scoring. Hence, it’s quite common and acceptable for your score to be a bit different at different bureaus.

Take, for example, 

• CIBIL may have loan data from one bank that Experian doesn’t.
• Experian might update your payment record faster than Equifax.
• CRIF could include older data from NBFCs that others skip.

All these small differences result in minor score changes, but they all depict the same credit pattern accurately.

Which Credit Bureau Score Is the Most Accurate in India?

In short, no bureau has the “most accurate” score, since all of them are under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India and are meant to stick to similar guidelines. However, the frequency of use or updating of some might be higher than that of others.

Let us go through each of them,

1. CIBIL (TransUnion CIBIL)

• CIBIL is the main source of checking creditworthiness for most lenders in India.
• As it is the first scoring bureau, it definitely covers the major portion of the market with its combined total of credit and loan accounts.
• So, it’s often considered the most trusted by banks and financial institutions.

2. Experian

• Experian is a credit bureau that is gaining recognition, and its reports are projected as being user-friendly.
• It frequently refreshes its data and offers an annual free report.
• Also, several fintech applications and lenders are relying on Experian credit data for user verification.

3. Equifax

• Equifax is the preferred choice for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and small-scale lenders.
• It goes into detail about analytics and also helps lenders monitor risk.
• However, at times, it may fail to provide complete information for certain customers.

4. CRIF High Mark

• CRIF High Mark is a credible source for small finance lenders in the rural segment of the market.
• It is accurate for small loans and borrower history in smaller towns.
• It may not have all the details for credit card users in big cities.

So, Which One Should You Check?

You can check any of them. But if you want the score that most lenders will likely use to review your loan, then go with CIBIL.

However, you should also check Experian or Equifax periodically to ensure all your data matches. Sometimes, one bureau may have an error that others don’t. Regular checks help you fix issues early.

How to Get Free Reports from Each Bureau

Additionally, you can quickly check the health of your credit using trustworthy platforms like Olyv. Olyv provides users with tailored advice on how to raise their credit score and helps them understand it. For those with a poor credit history, the app also provides financial tools and facilitates small loans, helping them gradually develop good financial habits.

Reasons to Check Various Scores

• It is a great way to find a mistake in the report of one credit bureau
• It provides you with an overall view of your financial identity.
• You can monitor the speed of each bureau in updating your payments.
• Lenders may use different scores at times; being aware of all scores helps you to be more prepared.

Conclusion

So, which credit bureau score is most accurate in India? The answer is, all of them.

Each bureau has its own plus points. CIBIL is the most common one, Experian is very customer-friendly, Equifax is thorough, and CRIF High Mark is beneficial for lower amounts. It is better to put your effort into maintaining clean records everywhere than to argue about which one is “most accurate”.

Settle your dues on time, do not take up too many loans at once, and check your reports frequently. Thus, no matter which bureau a lender refers to, your score will always be good enough.