Free Credit Report | How to get your free credit report

A credit report is a detailed report of your financial history related to all forms of credit. The types of credit instruments which are part of your credit report include credit cards, home loan, car loan, personal loan etc. Basically, a credit report includes information about the way you handle your debts or how well you repay each of your debt obligations.

Whenever you apply for a loan or a credit card, the lenders use these reports to determine your credit worthiness and to make lending decisions. In this post, let’s look at how to get your free credit report.

Information Included in a Credit Report

The following items mainly included in your credit report.

1. Personal Identifications: Your name, current and previous addresses, telephone number, date of birth, your spouse’s name, current and previous employers etc.

2. Credit History: Information about credit you may already have, such as credit card, loan or mortgage.

3. Banking information: Specific information about each account, such as opening date, balance and payment history.

4. Public records: Information on bankruptcy filing and a credit-related court judgment against you.

5. Credit report inquiries: A record of all the people who have inquired about your credit information.

6. Consumer statements: All the statement made by you to explain a situation in a dispute with a financial institution / creditor.

How to get your Free Credit Report?

The Reserve Bank of India has told all credit information company in the country to give one Free Credit Report to every consumer once every year from January 2017. Now you can access a detailed free credit report in the electronic form once every calendar year from each credit bureau. The credit information companies have displayed the process of getting a free credit report on their websites as per the guidelines issued by RBI.

From where you get your Free Credit Report?

Now, you can apply for your free credit report only once from January to December from each of the following four credit information companies.

1. Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Ltd

2. Transunion CIBIL Ltd

3. Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited

4. CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd.

All four Credit Information Companies maintain detailed records of your credit history using their own set of methodology. The process of applying for a free credit report is different for all Credit Information Companies.

Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Ltd

Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Ltd is a subsidiary of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. It offers credit information report for consumers and business services. It provides credit information services in accordance to the CICRA Act of 2005.

To get your free credit report and credit score from Experian, you have to visit its website (www.experian.in) then click on the link “Ger your free credit report & score”. Fill in your name (as per your PAN card), email address and mobile number. You will receive OTP on your mobile number. Once you enter the received OTP, you will be taken to a new page. Here, you need to enter your date of birth, gender, PAN number, address and PIN code. Accept the terms and conditions by checking the box and click on “Get Report” tab. After you complete this process your Experian Credit Report & Score is displayed on the screen. You can download your credit report in HTML or PDF format for future use. The entire process of getting your credit report is simple.

Transunion CIBIL Limited

TransUnion CIBIL is India’s leading credit information company with one of the largest collections of consumer information.

To obtain your free CIBIL Score and Credit Report, visit official website of Transunion CIBIL Limited (www.cibil.com). Click on the link “Click here to get your Free Annual CIBIL Score and Report online”. Fill in the personal details as requested in the form and submit this to complete step one. In the next step, fill more information about you like date of birth, gender, address and an identity proof number to complete step two. Next you need to verify your identity. Thereafter, it will ask “Would you like to upgrade to?”. Click on “No thanks” for the free report. Then, the login credentials will be sent to your registered email id. To access your credit report and other CIBIL services, you have to login to myCIBIL.

Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited

Equifax is a joint venture between Equifax Inc., USA and seven leading Indian financial institutions - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Prime Limited, Religare Finvest Limited, Sundaram Finance Limited and Union Bank of India.

To obtain your free full credit report and credit score from Equifax, you need to download Equifax App from Google Playstore or the iOS App store. Once download is complete, you need to provide your email address to receive your temporary pin. Login using your email and temporary pin to create a 6-digit login. Thereafter, provide your personal information and Aadhar card to authenticate your identity. A one-time password will be sent to your Aadhaar registered mobile number. Enter that OTP in the Equifax App and provide your personal details. Login to Equifax App after 24-hours to authenticate your identity based on your credit history by answering the few questions. Once authenticated successfully, your password protected full free credit report will be sent to your registered email address within 24-hours.

CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd.

CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd. is India's only full-service credit information bureau which comprehensively covers credit information for all borrower segments.

To check your free credit report and credit score from CRIF High Mark, you have to visit its website (www.crifhighmark.com). Now click on the link “Free Credit Score” to check your free credit report and credit score. Enter your email address to get started. Now enter your full name, date of birth, mobile number, gender, and your father’s name or spouse name. You will receive OTP on your mobile number. Enter your identification documents to complete search. Either PAN or UID is necessary. Here you need to enter and validate your address. Now you will be taken to a new page. Here, you need to choose for a free credit report. Once done, an authentication link will be sent to your email Id within 24 hours. You need to authenticate to get your free credit report. Once done, your free credit report will be generated within 7 working days.

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