Comprehensive Credit Reporting
Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) enhances Australia's credit reporting system and allows for additional information to be securely supplied between credit providers and credit reporting bodies. CCR helps to recognise people displaying sound credit management and borrowing practices.
About credit reporting
Australia operates a comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) system. This means Westpac is required by law to share certain account information with the credit reporting bodies to be included in individuals' consumer credit reports.
As well as credit enquiries, defaults and serious credit infringements, the information shared for CCR includes:
- the date the account was opened or closed
- the type of credit
- the credit limit
- repayment history information
- financial hardship information.
Westpac is supplying CCR information for its consumer credit products including credit cards, Flexi Loans, personal loans, home loans and auto finance loans.
A credit report is a summary of your credit history information, personal information and relevant public records created by a credit reporting body and provided under Privacy Act laws to credit providers.
Each credit reporting body produces its own version of a credit report which may be used by a credit provider to inform their credit decision and the amount of credit offered.
| Section | What information does it contain | Stays on for? |
|---|---|---|
| Personal information | Customer name, address, date of birth, employer, driver’s licence number | Permanent |
| Consumer credit liability information | Product type, account limits, account open and close dates | Closed accounts may stay on the report for up two years after the account is closed |
| Repayment history information | 24 months of rolling repayment history information | 24 months |
| Financial hardship information | Indicates that a hardship arrangement is in place for that account | 12 months |
| Enquiries | Applications for credit products | Five years |
| Defaults | A credit provider may record a default if you are more than 60 days late and they have attempted to get payment from you | Five years |
| Serious credit infringements | For example, fraud or deliberately evading your obligations | Seven years (unless you pay the debt) then it will revert back to being reported as a default |
Repayment history information (RHI) is a number listed each month on a credit report that indicates whether someone is up-to-date or late with their repayments. It is an important indicator of someone’s management of their credit accounts.
Financial hardship information (FHI) is a letter A or V listed each month on a credit report which shows there is an agreement between you and your lender to adjust your credit card, personal loan, car loan or mortgage loan repayments because something has happened which has impacted your ability to repay.
- ‘A’ indicates a temporary arrangement or deferral; or
- ‘V’ indicates a permanent change where the loan is varied.
Repayment history information is shown alongside the FHI to indicate if the revised repayments are being made on time.
To understand more, see ‘Financial Hardship Assistance and Credit Reporting (PDF 1MB)’.
Credit reporting bodies are businesses that give credit reports to credit providers to help them decide whether to lend money. Each credit reporting body will have a privacy policy on its website which outlines how your information is used.
Westpac works with three credit reporting bodies:
Generally, a credit score is a number that summarises the information held on a credit report and is calculated by that credit reporting body (CRB). Each CRB has its own method for calculating the credit score so you may want to see how they compare by getting a free copy of your credit report from Equifax and Experian.
The score is one indicator of how likely you are to pay back the money you owe to a credit provider and demonstrating good credit management and consistent and timely repayments will help improve your credit score.
This is information about the types of loans you’ve applied for over the last 5 years, including the date, amount and type of product you have applied for. This is shown on your credit report whether or not you were approved for the loan, or whether you proceeded with the loan.
This is information about loans you’ve held in the last 2 years including:
- The type of loan
- The credit limit of the account
- The date the account was opened and / or closed.
A default is a record that you haven’t met your repayments for quite a while, you have missed your repayments by at least 60 days and the credit provider has made efforts to get payments from you. Once a default is correctly recorded on your credit report, it remains there for five years, even if the debt has subsequently been paid.
What CCR means for our customers
CCR means it’s more important than ever to pay on time so the repayment history information is shown favourably on your credit report.
If you’ve missed a repayment, restarting your payments, and getting back up to date as soon as possible, will help improve your credit report. You can also set up automatic payments, such as Card Autopay, to take the hassle out of remembering to pay your bills on time and help you to keep your repayments on track.
Your credit score may change more regularly with CCR as monthly account information is being shared. See more on credit scores above.
CCR and hardship customers
The Government has legislated how hardship should be reflected in consumer credit reports across the industry. If you enter a hardship arrangement with us from 1 July 2022 this may be shown on your credit report as an:
- ‘A’ which indicates a temporary arrangement or deferral; or
- ‘V’ which indicates a permanent change where the loan is varied.
This information is included in a consumer credit report for 12 months alongside repayment history information.
The hardship arrangement is intended to support you to get back on track with your finances and can make a positive difference on your credit report if you repay on time according to the new arrangement.
The reason for the hardship arrangement is not included in the credit report and credit reporting bodies may not use financial hardship information when they calculate a credit score.
For more information on financial hardship and credit reporting, or if you’re having trouble making your repayments, please contact Westpac Assist for a confidential conversation.
Get a free copy of your credit report
You can request a free copy of your credit report from each credit reporting body at least once every three months. You can also request a free copy if:
- you’ve been refused credit within the past 90 days, or
- your credit-related personal information has been corrected.
Outside the above, a credit reporting body may charge a fee for generating your credit report.
Each credit reporting body has its own credit report format and method for calculating a credit score so you may want to see how they compare.
Checking what’s on your credit report is important to see if there are any fraudulent applications made in your name and to check your information is correct. If you see something that doesn’t look right on your report, you can contact us or the credit reporting body to get it looked into. If there is a mistake, we will fix it for free.
Requesting corrections to your credit report
If you’ve noticed an error on your credit report, contact us . We will investigate and if applicable, may assist with making any amendments necessary to ensure the information on your credit report is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and is not misleading.
Further information and support
The Credit Smart website has further information on CCR and credit reporting in Australia or you can contact us.