Equifax credit score in NZ: how it works
Equifax scores your credit file out of 1,000, worked out at the moment a lender or you ask for it. There is no pass mark, and the free report and the paid alert product are different things.
Equifax is one of the three credit reporters in New Zealand, and many people mean it when they ask about “my credit score”. Here is what it actually does. Equifax looks at everything on your file, compares it with the patterns in a very large number of other files, and produces a single number out of 1,000. It does that when someone asks, which is why the number can move from one week to the next. This page sticks to what Equifax itself says, and points out where its published material is older or silent.
How the score is made
According to Equifax’s own guide to its score, three things matter.
- It is calculated at the time of the request. Equifax says the rating is worked out in real time from the information on your file when you apply for credit, so it changes whenever your file changes.
- It is relative. The equation compares your file with patterns in past credit files, to estimate how likely you are to have trouble repaying in future.
- It is one input. Equifax states plainly that on its own the score does not decide whether you get credit. Lenders look at things like the amount of debt you could manage on your income, and apply their own policies. A lender may lend despite a low score or decline despite a high one.
Equifax also says there is no “good” number to aim for in the abstract. It applies to one situation at a time, for example a single application.
What it leaves out
The same guide lists what the score does not use. That includes your age, gender, ethnicity and religion, your salary and occupation, where you live, any information that is not on your credit file, and certain enquiries: the ones you start yourself, such as asking for your own file, and enquiries from employers. If you have been wondering whether your job or suburb is dragging you down, the answer from Equifax is no. What counts is your credit behaviour.
Equifax adds one important limit: it does not score files that have insolvency information on them. If you are bankrupt or in a No Asset Procedure, you may see no score at all.
Reading the 24-month grid
Since comprehensive credit reporting began, an Equifax report can show a grid of your repayment history over the past 24 months for each account that your lender reports. Each month gets a code. This is the key printed in Equifax’s guide.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Payments up to date at the cycle date |
| 1 | Payment 1 to 29 days late |
| 2 | 30 to 59 days late |
| 3 | 60 to 89 days late |
| 4 to 6 | 90 to 179 days late, in 30-day steps |
| X | 180 or more days late |
| H | Customer in hardship |
| R | Account re-aged by the lender |
| U | No update received for the period |
| N | No payment due or required |
A row of zeros is what you want to see. One stray 1 from a year ago matters much less than a run of 2s and 3s last month. If a code looks wrong, the lender that reported it is the one that can correct it, and the reporter has to pass on your dispute.
Credit enquiries and quotation enquiries
The report lists who has looked at your file. Equifax separates two kinds:
- Credit enquiries, where you applied for credit. These can affect the score.
- Quotation enquiries, where you only asked for a quote. They stay on the file for four years but are not used in the score.
This is useful if you are shopping for a car loan. Before you agree to anything, ask a lender or broker which kind of check they will run. Under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code, enquiries can be reported for four years from their date.
What is free and what is paid
- My Credit File is Equifax’s free report. Equifax says it is dispatched within 10 business days. Ordering is through an online form, or you can post a paper form. You may be asked to prove who you are.
- My Credit File Express is a paid copy delivered within three business days. Equifax lists it at $9.95 including GST, which matches the $10 ceiling the Privacy Code sets for fast delivery. Prices can change, so check the page.
- My Credit Alert is a yearly paid product that adds alerts and the Equifax Score Rating. Equifax lists it at $69.95 a year. You do not need it to see your file.
Equifax’s older guide says that from 1 July 2019 your score is provided when you request your report. The current order page for the free report does not repeat that, so we cannot promise your free copy has a number on it. The right to a free report is not in doubt. That comes from the Privacy Code, covered in our guide to checking your credit score.
How to improve what Equifax sees
Equifax’s own advice is the plain version:
- pay accounts on time, including fines
- tell lenders early if you change address, since a missed bill can become a default
- only apply for credit you need
- settle or agree a plan on unpaid amounts, so the status changes to settled
- watch for identity theft, which can put accounts on your file that are not yours
Equifax also says improvement takes longer than a drop. A default can pull the score down fast, but the effect fades as time passes and recent regular payments appear on the file.
When to check
Because the score moves with your file, timing matters. Equifax suggests looking every six months, and every quarter if you are actively working on improving it. Check once before a big application, for example a car loan, so you can fix errors with time to spare. Do not check obsessively after you apply, since the number will not change until the file does.
Disputes and mistakes
Equifax has a credit disputes process for items you think are wrong, and the Privacy Code gives you the right to ask for a correction. The reporter has to decide as soon as it can and tell you why if it needs longer than 20 working days. In practice, start with the lender that supplied the item, because a fix at the source passes through to all the reporters. Keep a copy of every message. If the item stays, ask for a note of your request to be added to your file, so that future readers see your side.
Equifax is only one of three
Another lender may use Centrix or Experian. That is why you should look at all three, and why a car lender can come back with a different view from the one you expected. Centrix’s bands are published in more detail than Equifax’s. For what a score of a given level generally means, see what is a good credit score and what is a bad credit score.
Where this leaves a car loan
If your Equifax number is lower than you hoped, it does not close the door. Many lenders for car finance weigh your income, how long ago problems happened and the car you want. Our four-question check is free, is not a credit application, and a real person calls to talk through what might be possible. Nobody can promise approval, and lenders decide. See the disclosure page for how we are paid.
Sources
Common questions
Equifax says its score runs from 0 to 1,000. It also says there is no single cut-off that every lender uses, so there is no number that means yes or no. Each lender combines the score with its own policies.
Order your free report from Equifax's My Credit File page. Equifax says it is dispatched within 10 business days. Its guide says the score is provided when you request access to your report, but the order page does not say so, so read what you receive.
No. Equifax says it does not score credit files that have insolvency information on them. A missing score does not mean a decline, but a lender will have to look at other things.
Credit-related enquiries, where you applied for credit, can. Equifax says quotation enquiries are included on your file for four years but are not used in working out the score, and that your own requests for your file and employer enquiries are not counted either.
Equifax suggests every six months, and every quarter if you are actively working on improving it, because the score is based on your file at a point in time. Checking your own file does not hurt it.