How to Check Credit Score Online?

A credit score is a three-digit number between 300-900 that banks and other lending institutions use to ascertain the “creditworthiness” of individuals or businesses. This refers to their ability to repay borrowed credit in the form of debts, or loans.

Having a good credit score is important, as it can give potential lenders more confidence in approving requests for loans and other credit

In India, there are four credit information bureaus that calculate this credit score – TransUnion CIBIL, Experian, CRIF High Mark, and Equifax. The Reserve Bank of India has made it mandatory for all these four companies to make it easy to check credit scores online. They are also required to provide one free credit score report each year.

Different Ways to check your Credit Score for Free

1. Directly from the credit bureau websites

As mentioned above, credit information bureaus will allow one free credit score check. This can be done easily through the credit bureau’s website.

These are the steps to be followed:

Step 1: Go to the website of the credit rating company, such as the CIBILwebsite, or the CRIF Highmark website
Step 2: Login using your login credentials, or create a new account. To do so, you will need to use your name, contact number, and email address.
Step 3: You will also need to attach an ID proof, like your PAN card, Aadhaar card, or passport
Step 4: Once this has been completed submit the form.
Step 5: You should then receive an OTP to your registered phone number and email ID so that your identity can be verified
Step 6: Once verified, you can log in and go to the dashboard
Step 7: may be asked for additional information may be required, such as questions about your loans and credit cards.
Step 8: After this is completed, you will be able to view your credit score on the screen, and your complete credit report will be delivered to your registered email-id.

Remember that this kind of free account will only allow you to check your credit score only once a year. If you wish to check your credit score more times, you do so with a paid account, or paid monthly reports.

2. From your bank

A number of banks will allow customers to check their credit score once a year for free through their websites. You can ask your bank if they provide this facility.

If this is available, you will likely find this feature on your bank’s netbanking website, or on the bank’s mobile app.

3. Using third party apps

There are certain apps that will allow registered users to check their credit score and credit report for free. Paid versions of these apps might also let you monitor changes in your credit profile, get daily updates, and more.

Some of these apps include:

CIBIL – the CIBIL app comes from one of the four main credit bureaus. It lets you check your CIBIL score and credit report every 24 hours, as well as getting alerts about changes to your credit profile, tailored loan offers, and more.
Experian – another app from a major credit bureau, the Experian app offers regular Credit Report updates, and credit monitoring with alerts.
Mint – the Mint app lets users track their finances, as well as providing a credit score analysis and credit alerts. Their scores are based on those from Equifax.
OneScore – the OneScore app lets you check your credit score from CIBIL and Experian, and also gives tips on how to improve your credit score, and alerts on changes.
IndiaLends – IndiaLends was one of India’s first credit score and analytics app. This app helps you get your credit score for free
CreditMantri – CreditMantri is an app that provides you with a credit analysis and free credit score
CreditSmart – CreditSmart is an online platform that calculates your credit score, provides daily updates, information on financial securities, and more.
ETMoney – the ETMoney app lets users know their score, get insights to improve it, and even provide curated loan offers matching your score.

How to Check the Credit Score for your Business?

As individuals are assigned credit scores ranging from 300-900, in India, businesses and companies are assigned a similar rank ranging from 1 to 10. In this case, 1 is the best possible rank, while 10 is the worst possible. However, any rank between 1-4 is considered good.

And the way that individuals may check their credit scores, companies can check their Company Credit Report (CCR). Note that these reports are generally not provided for free, but require a small fee.

Here are the steps to be followed to check a CCR via the CIBIL website:

Step 1: Visit the website of the credit rating company, such as the CIBILwebsite
Step 2: Fill out the provided form with the required details, such as legal constitution, registered address and contact details of the company, and the name and details of the applicant requesting the CCR, and any additional information.
Step 3: Make the required payment using a debit card, credit card, or net banking.
Step 4: Once this has been completed, you will be assigned a unique Registration ID and Transaction ID which can be used to access and track the next steps.
Step 5: The next thing you will need to do is to upload your KYC documents.
Step 6: After this is completed, you receive the CCR and CIBIL Rank to your registered email-id.

Frequently Asked Questions

✓ What does your credit score mean?

Your credit score is a measure of your level of creditworthiness. Basically, it tells banks and lending institutions the probability of a person defaulting on payments of loans and other credit. It is calculated using your credit history, payment history, credit utilization etc.

Generally, a higher credit score refers to a lower probability of a default, while a low credit score reflects higher probability of a default.

✓ What is a good credit score and a bad credit score?

Credit scores for individuals range between 300 – 900. A person’s creditworthiness is said to increase as the score increases.

300-579 – Poor
580-669 – Fair
670-739 – Good
740-799 – Very good
800-850 – Excellent

While a credit score above 700-750 is generally considered good, while those between 300 to 550 is a very poor score.

✓ Who can check their credit score?

Anyone can check their credit score. All you need is a PAN card number (or other similar ID proof) to do so. However, keep in mind that if you haven’t applied for credit in the past, you will not have a credit history, and thus your credit score will be low or negligible.

A good time to check your credit score before applying for a loan or for a credit card.

✓ Is there a difference between credit report and a credit score?

A credit report (also known as a Credit Information Report or CIR) is a document that lists your credit history, with details of your loans, borrowings, and repayments. A credit score is a three-digit number between 300-900 (with 900 being the highest score possible) that is calculated using this data, as well as other variables.

✓ Can you check your credit score without having a credit card?

Yes, it is possible to check your credit score even if you have never had a credit card. However, remember that if you haven’t applied for a loan or a credit card in the past, you will not have a credit history, and your credit score will be low or negligible.

✓ Who all can access your credit report?

A person’s credit report can be accessed by them, as well as by lenders, and any government recognized regulating bodies.