CIBIL Credit Information Report

This post is written by Shiv Kukreja

You know how increasingly critical your credit score is becoming these days. Nowadays, even one’s employment prospects could be affected by this score as the employers have started asking prospective candidates to submit their credit information report (CIR) during the interview process and a few candidates get rejected due to their poor credit history.

A few days back a friend of mine told me about this case in which a senior level MBA was refused employment in a bank because of his poor credit history. The employer came to know about a credit card payment default by this guy while carrying out his background check. I think time is not very far away when one would be required to upload these reports on matrimonial sites to find a suitable match 🙂 or even during school admissions of their children.

What is a CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR) and what is its significance?

A CIBIL Credit Information Report (CIR) is a record of one’s credit payment history compiled from information provided by the lenders such as banks and financial institutions. It provides details about one’s basic information, details about all the credit facilities availed, past payment history, amount overdue, current status, inquiries made etc.

Critical attributes of  your Credit Information Report:

Payment History – This section of the report shows your history of payments for a period of 36 months against the loan(s) taken or credit card dues. Days Past Due or DPD tells a lender by how many days the payment was late after the “due date of payment”.

Current Outstanding Balances – This section of the report shows the current outstanding balances on all the loans taken by you and accordingly helps the lender to determine your strength to take on additional EMIs in relation to your current income. Naturally, lower the current outstanding balances, the better the chance of your loan getting approved.

New Credit Facilities – This section of the report shows all the credit facilities that have been sanctioned to you in the recent past, as a result of which the proportion of the monthly outflow against your monthly income must have increased and it is a negative factor from the lender’s point of view.

New Inquiries – This section of the report shows all of the inquiries that have been made in the recent past by the lenders regarding your loan applications. So, a higher no. of inquiries indicates an urgent need of money on your part and hence a lower credit score.

Here is a Sample Credit Information Report and we try to make you understand what is there inside this report.

Sample CIR

Understanding the terms of a Credit Information Report:

Sanctioned Amount: This is the loan amount disbursed by a lender to a borrower.

Current Balance: This is the outstanding amount a borrower still owes on a particular credit facility. Lenders typically take 30-45 days after the payment is received to update it with CIBIL.

EMI Amount: Equated Monthly Installment that a borrower pays on the sanctioned loan.

Actual Payment Amount: This is the amount a borrower has actually paid against the due amount or EMI. If it is a loan, this amount may be more or less than the EMI Amount.

Amount Overdue: This is the amount that has not been paid against the due amount.

Repayment Tenure: It is the term of the loan.

Collateral: An asset like property, shares, gold etc. which has been provided to a lender as a security to protect the lender in the event of a loan default.

Credit Limit: Amount of credit available in case of credit card or overdraft facility.

Cash Limit: Amount of cash one can withdraw with the credit card.

High Credit: Highest amount ever billed against a credit card or overdraft facility.

Days Past Due (or DPD): DPD suggests the no. of days a due payment was late after the “due date of payment”. If it is “XXX”, then DPD was not reported by the lender.

Asset Classification (or AC): These are types of DPD based on RBI’s Asset Classification     norms.

STD – Standard – Payments made within 90 days after the due date. After 90 days, it is termed as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA).

SMA – Special Mention Account – Special account created for reporting Standard account, moving towards Sub-Standard.

SUB – Sub-Standard – An account which has remained an NPA for up to 12 months.

DBT – Doubtful – An account which has remained an NPA for a period of 12 months.

LSS – Loss – An account where loss has been identified and remains uncollectible.

Enquiry: Enquiries are added to one’s report everytime a lender decides to access the borrower’s CIR.

Control Number (or CN): This is a unique number of every Credit Information Report (CIR).

Ownership – Responsibility of Payments:

Single – A single borrower is solely responsible for making payments against the credit.

Joint – More than a single borrower jointly responsible for making payments against the credit. This will also reflect on the other individual(s) CIR.

Guarantor – A guarantor pledges to repay a loan on behalf of a third party who has taken the loan.

Authorised User – This is used for ‘add-on’ credit cards. An authorised user can use the add-on credit card but he is not responsible for paying the dues.

Written-Off and Settled Status: If the lender has either restructured a loan or has written it off or has settled it at some amount less than what the lender believes it was owed, then this section would be seen as populated in the report.

Written-Off Amount (Total): This field reflects the total loan amount written-off by the lender.

Written-Off Amount (Principal): This field reflects the principal amount written-off by the lender.

Settlement Amount: This is the amount that the borrower has agreed to pay and the lender has agreed to settle the claim against the amount due. The rest of the amount is written-off by the lender.

Suit filed/Wilful Default: In case the lender has filed a suit against a borrower, the lender has to report it as per the RBI guidelines as one of the following: 1) No Suit Filed 2) Suit Filed 3) Wilful Default 4) Suit Filed (Wilful Default).

CIR provide lenders the ability to differentiate between those who have honored their obligations responsibly and those who have defaulted. Individuals who appropriately manage their obligations build a reputational collateral with the lenders. In turn, this reputational collateral allows them to negotiate better terms with a lender.

Hence, whenever you decide to start your loan hunt, it is advisable to purchase and review your CIR. It helps you understand what the lender will review while evaluating your application. So, you have time to identify the discrepancies that you may find on your CIR and get them rectified on time in order to prevent any problems during the loan evaluation process.

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

No related posts.

115 thoughts on “CIBIL Credit Information Report”

  1. Hi
    I applied for CIBIL transunion score and CIR, online from their site. I received a control no. and credit score showing “NA”.
    Can I get my current CIR on same control no. or I need to pay 470/- again for the same? Kindly advise.
    Thanks in advance.

    Reply

  3. Hi,

    I am trying to transfer my home loan from one bank to another. So I wanted to check for my CIBIL score which comes to 776. How good is that score? Will I be able to get a good deal from banks only on the basis of this? I am sure they will check this, but I wanted to find this out for myself to use it as a negotiation tool. Thanks for your help in advance.

    Reply

    1. Hi Kunal,

      776 is a good score, if not excellent. You can use it for your negotiations with the banks. But, your overall payment history will matter more. In case of zero default and no late payments, your case will become stronger. In the cases of balance transfer, you’ll have more negotiation power if the “loan-to-value” is in your favour.

      Reply

  4. My name is Derick Thomas – I had 4 credits cards (HSBC, HDFC, SBI & ICICI) and all were settled before 2005. I have all the settlement letters along with the receipt for the amount paid during settlement. I recently got the CIBIL report in which it states 1 credit card amount is still due and doesn’t specify which bank it is. Since I had 4 credit cards, I’m not sure which bank hasn’t submitted my settlement letters to CIBIL. Could you tell me how to go about this.

    Reply

    2. Hi Derick,

      You most likely got your report from a financial institution and hence you are not able to see the bank details. As a first step, we suggest you buy your Credit Score (and CIR) for Rs 470/- from http://www.cibil.com .The credit report will provide you with the respective banks names and the other credit details. Once you have got this information, you can visit http://www.cibil.com/dispute-resolution and initiate a dispute through the dispute resolution process.

      Regards,
      CIBIL Consumer Relations

      Reply
  7. Pingback: Understanding CIBIL CIR report « Be Money Aware Blog

  8. Hi Shiv,

    I have applied for a home loan in ICICI Bank and got rejected saying that my cibil report is not good. ICICI bank told that you have 3 defaults.
    1) from some credit card
    2) consumer loan
    3) Car loan

    I have 3 credit cards (SBI, HDFC and Standard Chartered), and only once i paid my bill after due date (after 10 days). I had one credit card from HSBC, which had pending bill of 34k for 6 months around 4 years back , and i paid the full amount by cheque 4 years back (in 2008). But INR 13 left which i paid by cheque (INR 29, with interest for 2 years ;-)) in 2010 when i took car loan. HSBC remarked me defaulty in CIBIL for those 13 rupees that time. Never gone for any kind of settlement, paid full amount including principal and interest.

    I have one car loan from ICICI bank itself (for 5 years,, 2 years completed today), and i never missed any EMI during the last 2 years.

    I have one personal loan from standard chartered (for 3 years, 2 years 6 months completed), and i never missed any EMI during the last 2 years and 6 months.

    What do you think? where is the problem? Today itself i applied for CIR report with credit score.

    Thanks & Regards
    Preet

    Reply

    1. Hi Preet… There is a conflict between what you are telling me about your credit history and what ICICI Bank has told you about your defaults. As per you, there is zero default in your car loan and personal loan but ICICI says there are some defaults.

      On the face of it, I dont see any major problem in your credit history as such. So, you just need to wait a couple of days for your report to come and then you might find the problem area yourself.

      Reply

      1. Thanks Shiv,

        I think ICICI home loan dept is lazy and slow, on 31st oct they told me that your application is rejected and yesterday i called my RM to enquire and notifying him that my car loan is financed from ICICI itself and there is no default in repayment. Then my RM told me that he will check and let me know. Today he told me that there is no problem in my case and he will talk with credit manager and come back. He said that i should get the loan (my requirement is Twenty four hundred thousand rupees).

        I dont know if now he is saying that i should get it, then where they were looking in cibil.

        Thanks & Regards
        Preet

        Reply

        1. Great!… I would suggest that you should still check your credit report thoroughly and get it clean/rectified, if you find some problem area there. You are most welcome to share your financial queries and other thoughts here.

          Reply

          1. Thanks Shiv,

            I will share my things if there are any discrepancies, Thanks again to address my queries.

            Thanks & Regards
            Preet

            Reply

              1. Hi Shiv,

                I got my CIBIL report with score on saturday, I am quite happy after seeing it. My CIBIL score is 776 and no default/settlements/written off from any bank.

                But i think ICICI bank has some issue with my credit cards still, they are saying my credit limit is too high in all credit cards and my usage too. I use my credit card everywhere even for 100 rupees, and pay back well every month. They are asking my credit card statements sothat they can see my usages. every month i use my credit cards from 20k to 30k.

                Please suggest me what i can do.

                Preet

                Reply

                1. Hi Preet… all these lenders consider it to be negative to have large number of credit cards, high credit limit and high usage. If you can surrender one or two cards and reduce your usage, it will result in a better credit record. But it will take some time to reflect in your report. If showing your credit card statements helps you in getting the home loan, you should do that.

                  Reply

                  1. Hi Shiv,

                    I am telling you joke of the day,

                    My home loan was sanctioned last month from ICICI, now when i wen to my builder to generate the NOC for loan disbursement. My builder told me ICICI has black listed us and they will not disburse the loan even if we issue the NOC.

                    After that i called my RM (ICICI) to inquire about that, he came back to me after two days saying “Yes sir, ICICI has black listed your builder. So its not possible.”

                    So my question is, if ICICI has already black listed my builder than how come they sanctioned my loan and best part they took more than one month. So i was in impression that they were doing all verification of builder and myself. And this was happened when i submitted all the papers from builder.

                    Anyways after this mess up, i am applying in Bank of Maharastra. Hope everything will go positive.

                    Lesson: Always ask your builder first before applying home loan in any bank whether you can go ahead or not. May be this will be helpful for ur readers.

                    Regards
                    Preet

                    Reply

                    1. 🙂 That is what happens when there is no sense of ownership/responsibilty with the employees of an organisation. It has been an issue with the ICICI Bank for long. Though ICICI Bank has improved quite a lot in the recent times, but still some issues remain.

                      In your case, I think they have approved your loan on the basis of your requirements and income docs and must have ignored the builder docs. You should now again ask ICICI Bank to sanction the loan for this project and lets see how they react. Also, please make sure that they dont show it as a sanctioned loan in your name and ask you to payback some amount for processing or stuff like that. That might affect your credit history.

  9. Hi..
    I applied for personal loan. They rejected it for following reasons.
    1.They said Ur credit score is “2” ,You are not eligible to get loan. I read that NH = -1 and NA = 0. butI dont know how the value is “2”.
    2. All our company employees having salary A/c in SBI and my company A/c in HSBC. So they transfer salary through NEFT to my A/c. Bank executive said , They are not consider NEFT transfer.

    Please reply me about Credit Score = 2 and NEFT Transfer.

    Thanks
    San

    Reply

    1. Hi San… CIBIL has recently launched newer version of its credit score “CIBIL TransUnion Score 2.0”. Consumers who earlier used to obtain a score value of ‘0’, owing to less than 6 months of credit history on their credit report, will now be graded on a risk index ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 would mean highest default risk profile. So, your credit score of 2 keeps your default risk profile second to the highest.

      The bank is not considering NEFT transfer in your A/c. probably due to its own lending policy and it is considering it to be an improper channel of salary transfer. I think only the bank can tell you the right reason.

      Reply

      1. Hi Shiv..
        Thanks for your reply .
        Would CIR report give full details..Why I am getting Score “2”. Because I got the value from bank executive ,when I inquired about the loan rejection .

        Thanks,
        San

        Reply

        1. Hi San… Your credit report will show you the factual picture about your credit history and I think you’ll be able to figure it out why the score is ‘2’. If you are not able to understand it, you can share it here.

          Reply

  10. dear sir,

    I have so many cards in last 2 years and and have a very bad record.
    Last 2 years i was running from very bad situation.
    i have been setteled all my loans

    Can i avail the home loan

    Reply

    1. Hi Vijay… Based on the info you’ve provided, nobody would be able to tell you whether you are eligible to get a home loan or not. Your eligibility depends on various factors including your credit history. Different lenders have different criteria and only lenders can let you know about your eligibility.

      Reply

  11. Hi Shiv.

    Thanks for the information.

    I’m currently in US and I have been here since 2010. While trying to request online for getting the credit score, it is asking for the address in india also an address proof. Except my NRI account in india I don’t have any credit cards or loan accounts. I would like check my credit score as I had some credit cards and loans when I was in India.

    Could you please guide me how to get that details with current status. Also, is there a validity for the credit score to expire ?

    Tanks,
    Sowmyan

    Reply

    1. Thanks Sowmyan!
      I’m not sure what address your NRI account carries but you could use your bank statement as the address proof. Also, CIBIL is required to maintain all the accounts for a minimum period of 7 years from the date the account was last reported. So, if your data is there on the report, then your CIBIL score will also show up there.

      Reply

  12. sir mera naam cibil se nikalna he aap meri madad kar sakate he. jis bhi bank jo due hoga uska pricipal mai bharne ko tyar hun.

    Reply

  14. Hi Shiv,

    Thanks for so much of indepth information, your posts are an eye opener to me and I am sure for many others.

    I had a couple of doubts and I was wondering if you could help me with it. My issue is that I have had a very bad period around 5 to 6 years Back, where in I had a couple of credit cards and since I was traveling abroad, I had closed down all my cards after an Amicable settlement.

    From the last 5 Years I have never defaulted and always paid before time on my housing loan which is going on for the last 11 years, nor Have I ever taken any new loans or credit cards in the last 5 Years.

    Now that I am Back I was trying for a Loan, and while checking I realised that my Credit report that has come up is very bad and around 600 odd points.

    So My question is, As the Damage is already done, how can I now fix it. Also isnt there a Maximum Time that the credit report keeps the track of like the Past 5 Years, or like 7 Years. If I wait for this period without taking any new loans or credit will my credit Report get cleared over the period of time? Or the Credit Report will still show up the details of 7years or 10years back.

    Also let us assume, if the financial institutions have uploaded improper information, how can we get the same fixed or resolved? Does an Individual customer like me ever have a say in these maters?

    Some of my questions might be very basic or might look stupid, but these are bugging me from quite some time now, so if you could please make me understand these it would really be a great help to me.

    Thanks Again.

    Reply

    1. Thanks A S for your kind words!

      It is a coincidence that some of your problems have their solutions in today’s post itself – http://www.onemint.com/2012/09/14/cibil-dispute-resolution-process-rectification-of-discrepancies-in-credit-report/

      Payment dispute or partial settlement, both spoil your credit score. CIBIL need to maintain all the accounts, delinquent accounts as well as good standing accounts, for a minimum period of 7 years. CIBIL will not remove these details, even if you desire so. There are many cases which dont fall in CIBIL’s purview, for which you’ll have to approach the respective lender(s). If the lender is not able to resolve your dispute and if you think your stand is right, then you can approach the banking ombudsman.

      In your case, with a score of 600 and no defaults in the last 5 years, you should first try your luck with CIBIL’s Dispute Resolution Process – http://www.cibil.com/consumer-dispute-resolution — https://www.cibil.com/online/file-consumer-dispute.do

      If this does not work, then approach the lender whose report is damaging your score the maximum. Try to negotiate or pay off the amount, if the lender agrees to remove its demand. Banking ombudsman should be the last resort to get your disputes resolved.

      Here is how you can improve your score – http://www.onemint.com/2012/08/14/cibil-credit-score-negative-factors-and-ways-to-improve-your-score/

      Reply

  17. “I hope the reply was not too long to make you leave it in between… ;-)”
    LOL, certainly not, on the contrary I read your post twice.
    Every line you wrote is true and full of facts.
    Thanks for such a lively post.

    Reply

    2. Honestly speaking, it is my pleasure to have the opportunity to write these posts here on OneMint. I want to carry this opportunity with full responsibilty.

      Reply

  18. Hi Shiv

    Thanks for your quick reply. No, I have not missed the last post, but perhaps, I have not read it completely, just looked at a glance and really missed something important that I want to know. Thanks for pointing it.

    However, the other information that I am looking for, will be in “Coming Soon” articles “How to check your Credit Score and purchase the Credit Information Report?” and others articles of the series.

    Will wait for other articles of the series. I know, they will be as informative as your other articles. Thanks for writing such a series.

    Reply

    1. Probably that is the side effect of writing too big an article, people get bored and dont read it completely… very bad !! 🙁 😉

      The next two articles are almost ready with me and I hope they will get posted here in the next few days. I hope you like them as well… thanks! 🙂

      Reply

      1. Ha! Haa!!

        It might be true, what you have said. But in my case I do not get bored in reading a big article but it should be of my interest. I do not remember about your previous article, that I was in a hurry or may be first few paragraphs were not of my interest and might have left in between.

        However, I have started action on your article. I have decided to apply for credit card and to use it cautiously and to pay timely so as to have a positive credit history. As I find that credit score of NA or NH are more or less a negative score.

        Actually I am totally against taking loans for expenditure and more so for credit cards as I believe that one should live in ones means. But I may add that I am in favour of housing loan if one lives in rented accommodation and the EMIs are within ones means, and after considering all benefits, it costs (though not free but) as good as free in 20 years time.

        Reply

        1. Nice thoughts Umesh !!

          I agree with you on most of your ideologies you mentioned here. Personally I wont take a credit card just to have a credit history but at the same time I’m with you what you’ve decided to do. No issues there as long as you use a credit card in a disciplined manner and make regular payments on time.

          I’ve seen many people, mostly in their young age, overspending initially, then falling in a debt trap, applying for more cards just for fun or to show off and then either not paying for them or going for a partial settlement. It ruins their credit history & then at a later stage they regret it when they actually require a loan and lenders refuse to give it or tighten their taps.

          Also, I think NA or NH should be considered as neutral & not negative. If you’ve not taken any loan or credit card earlier but your income is good enough for the required loan and your bank statements show healthy transactions, then there are no problems.

          Taking a home loan in a country like India, where there are a couple of tax benefits associated with it, is a very good idea. At the same time, the EMI should be within your means, there must be a strong confidence in you about your current employment and future employment prospects and most importantly, property valuations must not be in a bubble zone. I think many pockets in Delhi & Gurgaon are in a bubble zone where the property prices are touching Rs. 1-2 Crores per flat and the rentals are just Rs. 20000-30000 for the same properties. But you never know, rates are probably still rising.

          With some precautions, CIBIL Credit Score is no big deal to handle. Just be disciplined! I hope the reply was not too long to make you leave it in between… 😉

          Reply

  19. Hi Shiv

    Excellent!! An article full of information, that one wants to know about CIBIL Report.

    Please do write a few lines about how and from where to get CIBIL Report, the procedure.

    And will only persons having a credit history, get CIBIL report. What about those, who have never taken a loan or even a credit card. Will they also get CIBIL Report.

    Reply

    1. Thanks a lot Umesh!! 🙂

      I think you probably missed the last post here related to CIBIL Credit Score. Please check this:

      http://www.onemint.com/2012/07/23/cibil-transunion-credit-score-role-in-a-loan-application-process/

      “Though I did not find anywhere what ‘NH’ or ‘NA’ stand for in CIBIL TransUnion Score terminology, I assume the full form of NH to be “No History” and NA to be “Not Applicable”. An applicant gets a score of NH or -1 when he does not have a credit track record at all and a score of NA or 0 when his credit track record is less than 6 months.”

      Also, please check this under “Coming Soon”:

      “How to check your Credit Score and purchase the Credit Information Report?”

      Reply

  20. Hi, can an individual find out their own credit rating in India?
    To confirm, does this apply to NRI’s who have availed loans in India?

    Reply

    1. Hi, I’m not sure what exactly do you mean by Credit Rating of an individual per se. But as it is done globally, in India also, there are Credit Information Bureaus (CIBIL is one of them) and these bureaus issue “Credit Information Reports (CIRs)” and “Credit Scores” to individuals as well as corporates for a nominal fee. These reports/scores are then used by the lenders i.e. banks and financial institutions, to check one’s credit payment history and take their lending decisions.

      This applies to all those individuals (NRIs also) or corporates who have taken a loan or a credit card from any bank or financial institution, which is a member of any of these bureaus.

      Please check my previous post on the same topic which gives some basic information about Credit Information Bureaus and CIBIL TransUnion Credit Score. I hope it helps you!

      http://www.onemint.com/2012/07/23/cibil-transunion-credit-score-role-in-a-loan-application-process/

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *