House Prices

Peeping at your credit rating

Reality TV means the phrase "Big Brother is watching" has taken on a different meaning from what George Orwell ever imagined.

Sunday, March 14th 2004

But many New Zealanders are unaware that someone really is watching - the large and pervasive industry devoted to collecting information about their sensitive financial affairs.

The personal credit information industry is big business; dominant player Baycorp Advantage says it holds records on 2.5 million New Zealanders, while its competitor D&B says its figures are similar.

Some of those records show nothing more than your name, date of birth and address.

But if you have applied for a loan, mortgage or hire purchase finance in the past five years, there'll be stacks more information on your credit file because you're defined as "credit active".

You may not have noticed when you signed the loan application, but in the small print you gave permission for your file to be searched, and for the computers making the check to update that file with information from your current application.

And for the record, there's no degree of credit default - you're a defaulter whether the amount was the minimum $20 or a sum many times larger.

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Most Read

Unity First Home Buyer special 4.29
SBS FirstHome Combo 4.29
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special 4.85
China Construction Bank 4.85
ICBC 4.85
TSB Special 4.89
Kiwibank Special 4.89
ASB Bank 4.89
SBS Bank Special 4.89
Westpac Special 4.89
BNZ - Std 4.89
Nelson Building Society 4.93
ICBC 4.95
SBS Bank Special 4.95
China Construction Bank 4.95
Wairarapa Building Society 4.95
TSB Special 4.95
ANZ Special 4.95
ASB Bank 4.95
Kainga Ora 4.95
Westpac Special 4.95
AIA - Go Home Loans 4.95
SBS Bank Special 5.39
Westpac Special 5.39
ICBC 5.39
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 5.59
BNZ - Std 5.59
BNZ - Classic 5.59
AIA - Go Home Loans 5.59
ASB Bank 5.59
Kainga Ora 5.69
Kiwibank Special 5.79
ANZ 5.79
SBS Construction lending for FHB 3.94
AIA - Back My Build 4.44
CFML 321 Loans 4.99
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 5.95
Co-operative Bank - Standard 5.95
Heartland Bank - Online 5.99
Pepper Money Prime 6.29
Kiwibank - Offset 6.35
Kiwibank 6.35
TSB Special 6.39
Kainga Ora 6.44

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