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 St.George 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.
We are supplying CCR information for our consumer credit products including credit cards, personal loans, Get Set loans, home loans, auto finance loans and permanent overdraft accounts.
A credit report is a summary of someone’s 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 to 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 |
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. Setting up Autopay with an Automatic Payment Plan can take the hassle out of remembering to pay your bills on time and help you to keep your payments 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.
If you’re having trouble making your repayments, we can help. Please contact St.George Assist for a confidential conversation about your situation.
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.
Further information and support
The Credit Smart website has further information on CCR and credit reporting in Australia or you can contact us.
Privacy Statement
Our Privacy Statement provides important information about how we collect and handle your personal information, including the purposes for which we collect and use your information and the types of organisations we share it with (some of which are located outside of Australia). It also explains how you can access and correct the personal information we hold about you, and how you can make a complaint about our handling of your personal information.
Overseas Privacy and Data Protection Policies
At St.George we are committed to protecting your Privacy, no matter where you live.
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