How To Get Your Free Equifax Credit Score & Annual Credit Report Online?

Big dream expects Big steps, and these steps often require creditors on the way to achieve them. But the lenders also want evidence if you could handle the repayment of the loan once provided. Credit Score works as a sign for the lenders to evaluate the borrower based on history. Therefore, in this article, you will find detailed information on How to get your Free Equifax Credit Score & Annual Equifax Credit Report online?

Why Should You Consider Equifax Credit Report And Scores As The Right One For You?

It is one of its kind where you can get your first credit report for free. You would be wondering why you should consider Equifax for Credit Report as helpful. Equifax India is one of the 4 leading companies providing Credit Information of an individual in India.

Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited and Equifax Analytics Pvt Ltd. in India are the companies that are handling Equifax Credit Report and various other services provided by them. This bureau is a USA-based company having its Indian headquarters located in Mumbai.

It is a joint venture between Equifax Inc., USA, and seven major Indian financial institutions of India, which are Religare Finvest Limited, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Kotak Mahindra Prime Limited, Sundaram Finance Limit, Bank of India, and Union Bank of India. Since major these institutions have a stake in this bureau, it is a great company for the credit reports.

What Does Equifax Credit Score Means And What Is Its Importance?

So, the Equifax credit score is a 3 digit number derived from the individual’s past financial data. It ranges from 300 and goes up to 850, where 300 is the worst and 850 is the best score. These scores are derived using an algorithm that performs analysis and drafts out a credit report.

This report contains your credit score in the mentioned range. It holds value for them, which helps lenders evaluate the prospective borrower’s creditworthiness and the risk involved in lending money to the applicant.

Therefore by knowing your score, you can improve or maintain the same to make you a more eligible borrower. So if you want to improve, you might be wondering how these scores work? Is there any range to be safe? What scores should be avoided such that I am not in a danger zone?

Therefore, let’s discuss the ranges within the mentioned range to have quantitative information on the range scores.

Zone 1 – It ranges between 300- 579 within the Equifax Score timeline

An Equifax score in this range is considered a poor score. It suggests you have been either late/ defaulted in paying your past credit card bills or EMIs that you were liable to pay on time. With an Equifax score in this range, it is unimaginable for anyone to obtain any credit from a verified lender as you are prone to be a defaulter.

Zone 2 -This zone ranges from 580 to 669 in the Equifax score sheet

A  score in this range is regarded as a fair one. A very few institutions could lend you credit, but this would come with strings connected to it. The interest rate would be much higher than the market rate. The credit amount provided would be less, force you to take various insurance from them, and many more. A score in this zone illustrates that you might face difficulties in paying credit bills, not having a disproportionate mix credit, or many more factors listed below. You need to get these scores up by taking serious actions to enhance your Equifax score to have reasonable deals on loans.

Zone 3 – It lies in the range starting from 670 to 739

A score in this range displays that you have good credit behavior. A good amount of organizations would consider you for your credit request. But with this, you are required to have the good negotiating power to have loans granted without bounding conditions. But for a hassle-free process, you might look to advance to the next zone bypassing some small hurdles.

Zone 4 – This is the zone in the credit score timeline varying from 740 till 799

This zone is considered to be a perfect zone. You might think of it as a zone wherein lenders will be willing to grant you loans. It demonstrates your impressive payment history and smart work done by you in handling credits. Banks will give you credit at the lowest possible rates that you look for as there are the least chances that you might become a defaulter.

Zone 5 – This is the topmost zone of the credit score tower ranging from 800 – 850

This zone is considered to be an excellent one. You might find the highest score to be 900, but these are physically impossible to have them. So, you can assume that this zone is anything above 800 marks. This zone is exceptional for a borrower to have banks would be more than happy to have you with the conditions you said. An individual in this zone can assume an interest rate to be even a bit lower than the market rate. This the ideal zone you want to be in.

However, there is another zone, which is NA/NH. If you have no past credit history, your Equifax score will show NA/NH, signifying that it is either “not applicable” or has ” no history.” If you have never obtained a credit card or a loan, then you will have no credit history in the database.

So, by far, we know that the credit score is a part of the credit report, so the additional information is accounted for.

Basic Credit Information Report

A  Basic Credit Information Report or CIR is the exact view of the borrower’s credit history and rating. Their readability is quite good and can be easily interpreted by a customer. This report contains 5 sections having both personal and credit information of the customer, which are as follows :

Section 1: Identification And Contact Section

This section contains your personal details, which include :

• Name of the customer
• Age and D.O.B of the individual
• Permanent Address, and many more

Section 2: Credit History And Scores

This section contains all the crucial credit characteristics of the consumer based on past credit bills. It will quote the borrower’s credit type and the amount in the mentioned period. This section will also demonstrate how the consumer organized and utilized his/her credit.

Section 3: Latest Actions And Activities

The borrower highly values this section. The client will have information about the consumer’s recent activity, and actions are taken. It will reflect the credit that has been attained by the consumer. The report will also quote if the consumer has applied for a new account or loan in other banks related to it. If the account has been used for any offense, this section will emphasize it.

Section 4: All Type Of Account Details

This part of the report will show the client’s accounts that he/she possess. It gives account-wise details of the consumer’s repayment history to the client and monetary transactions involving a considerable amount of money. The account details will show the lender how a consumer has handled his credit and whether he/she has made the repayments on time.

Furthermore, this section will also highlight if the consumer has missed any payments and whether he has settled any accounts. The lender will avoid lending money to someone who has settled accounts or missed the repayments as it is a huge risk.

Section 5: Inquiry Section

This section delivers details of the number and the type of inquiries that are performed on the consumer. A high number of inquiries suggest that the consumer is desperately looking for credit. With several inquiries, if the consumer is yet unable to obtain a credit, it marks that the consumer cannot organize and use his/her credit efficiently.

How Can I Get My Equifax Credit Report Online? Can I Get It For Free?

Due to some amendments in 2017, it has been made mandatory for your country’s credit bureaus to provide a credit report for free. Keep in mind that it can only be availed once in a financial year. So, to get it from Equifax, download the Equifax mobile app from the play store. It is available both on android and iPhone, so don’t get disheartened. After installing the same, follow the steps mentioned below:

i. Sign in to the Equifax App on Android or iPhone

After downloading and installing the app on your smartphone, you will be asked to provide your email address to receive a temporary verification PIN. You will be required to login to this app using your email-id and the temporary pin received in the mail to create a personal 6-digit login PIN.

ii. Entering the KYC details and Validating yourself/KYC

You will be required to enter your enter personal details such as name, age, etc. along with Aadhaar and PAN card number to verify your identity. Once your authentication is done, you will receive an OTP on your Aadhaar registered mobile number. Upon entering the one-time password and validating it, you will be taken to the Equifax App homepage.

iii. Getting a soft copy of your Credit Report

Provide additional information which includes your gender, date of birth, address, etc. You would also be required to give in your identification (ID) like Passport, PAN, or Voter ID. The authentication will be conducted further based on your credit history. Here, you will need to respond to the questionnaire based on your history. You will have to answer three questions based on your credit history to authenticate yourself, and then you will attain your credit report on your registered email address within 24 hours.

Your credit report will be password protected. Equifax will provide you with a unique password for your report, which will be delivered to your mobile app on your phone. You will have to sign in to your  Equifax app to get the password. Entering the same in the file that will provide you access to your Equifax credit report.

If you want to avail of this feature through offline mode, whatsoever may be the reason.

You can send the above mentioned scanned documents via email to ecissupport@equifax.com. You can also post the filled out credit report application form and documents through the postal services to their headquarters in Mumbai. If you want to have these reports from time to time for yourself, you will need to choose a subscription plan and make payments according to their portal.

Factors That Help In The Credit Card Scores Calculation

You might be wondering how these scores are calculated, and factors are taken into account while doing these same. So let’s dive deep into it:

Credit Score is evaluated using the credit history establish during the drafting of the Credit Report. Credit Report comprises data that analyses consumers’ credit behavior, including their credit payment and borrowing patterns, credit utilization ratio, etc. Therefore the key factors that are used and their importance, solutions are displayed below :

1. Repayment History Of Past Credits

Your credit repayment history accounts for a significant impact on your credit score, which is about 30% of the total. Have a credible track record regarding timely payment of credit bills and EMIs dramatically impacting your credit score and contemplating responsible credit behavior. This will boost your Equifax score. Whereas frequently defaults on EMIs and credit card payments affect your credit score negatively. It demonstrates poor financial planning and management, which decreases your score.

2. Credit Utilization Ratio

The credit availed to the credit limit for all the credits, such as credit card, loan, and overdraft accounts. A high credit utilization ratio reflects a higher dependence on credit and a rise in the repayment burden. It portraits the hunger of the individual for credit to get his/her things done. This affects your credit score in a hard way. However, a low credit utilization ratio (around a mark of 35% ) indicates higher credit credibility and enhances your Equifax credit score.

3. A mix Of Credit Types Used

The category of credit classified into secured and unsecured credit that you use also affects your credit score. Having a high number of unsecured loans like personal loans, credit cards, etc. are unfavorable for your credit score because it is frequently deduced as a sign of inefficiency in managing personal finances. It is nice to have a proper mix of credit, i.e., a balanced of secured loans like Home, Auto loans, and unsecured credit. It has a favorable influence on your credit score computed by Equifax.

4. The Number Of Recent Credit Applications

The number of new credit accounts and the credit inquiries that have been carried out recently also affect your credit score. Applying for multiple numbers of new credits portraits you to be credit hungry. Moreover, the increase in the number of hard inquiries performed by banks affects scores adversely.

5. Length Of Credit History

The length of your credit history, i.e., the period from when you first applied for a credit till now, affects your credit score. Periods over which credit accounts have been active are duly noted. The longer the track record of responsible credit, the better is the effect on your credit score.

FAQs

Bottom Line

To cope with the necessities and luxuries of life, we try our level best to provide them to our loved ones. To procure them, we might require credit that might be high about our current income.

So we apply for credits from the lenders. But to convince them to provide us with the asked credit, the lenders require a concrete piece of evidence that you would be able to pay them up with interest.

So, the Credit Score serves as a medium to convince them to provide us with the credit. So it is on us to provide them with that reason by which they should willingly provide us with the credits.

Following the above cheat sheet and rectifying errors, if any, in the annual report will help you to maintain or improve your score to get the loans on your desired conditions and market rates.