Equifax Credit Score – Check Your Equifax Credit Report & Score Online

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A good credit score and a credit report are a testament to your financial discipline. Equifax Credit Information Services Limited is an RBI-approved credit bureau. Equifax's role is to provide credit information services under the Credit Information Companies Act 2005. Equifax collects and maintains consumers' credit information collected from various banks and NBFCs every month. In this article, we will learn how to access the Equifax credit score for Free and also learn the basics of the Equifax credit score and the Equifax credit report.

What is an Equifax Credit Score?

Equifax calculates its credit score using its proprietary algorithm. Lenders use the Equifax credit score to assess a borrower's creditworthiness. Knowing your credit score will help you monitor and evaluate your credit health. You can view your Equifax credit score online for free to track your credit profile. When you check your own credit score , it is considered a soft inquiry, and it will not have any impact on your credit score.

The following is some of the information that is required to get your Equifax credit score.

• Full Name
• Date of Birth
• Mobile Number
• Email ID
• PAN/Driver's License/Passport/Voters ID

To get an updated credit report, you need to pay a subscription fee at the following rates.

• Rs.100 as a one-time subscription.
• Rs.450 as quarterly subscription with credit report and score simulation for 3 months.
• R.900 as yearly subscription with credit report and score simulation for 12 months.

Equifax Credit Score Range & What It Means

Like any other credit bureau, Equifax also has its own set of credit score ranges. This credit score range will help you understand its significance.

How to Check Your Equifax Credit Score Online (Step-by-Step Guide)

Your Equifax credit score is a testament to your creditworthiness and financial credibility. You need to have a quick, easy, and secure way to check your credit score. The following are the detailed steps to check your Equifax credit score online.

Step 1: Visit the official Equifax website.

Step 2: Navigate to the credit score section.

Step 3: Verify your identity: You will be asked to enter various personal details, such as your full name, date of birth, PAN card number, Email ID, and mobile number.

Step 4: Answer Verification Questions:

Step 5: You can download your credit report. Suppose you want to have an additional credit report. You need to pay the requisite subscription amount.

Step 6: Access your credit report and credit score: You will get your Credit Information Report and Credit Score. A credit score above 750 is considered to be good.

Factors Affecting Your Equifax Credit Score

Your Equifax credit score hovers in the range of 300 to 900. Several factors affect your Equifax credit score. Let us delve into them and find out.

• Repayment History: Timely payments of bills and EMIs display responsible credit behavior. This will boost your credit score.
• Credit Utilization Ratio: It measures the amount of used credit when compared to the available limit across various accounts. A high credit ratio indicates greater reliance on credit. This will also negatively impact your credit score.
• Types of Credit Utilized: Having the right mix of credit is essential to boosting your credit score. This also demonstrates your ability to handle various types of credit.
• Number of New Credit Applications: Having too many credit applications within a short period indicates financial distress. This will lower your credit score.
• Length of Credit History: If you have an old credit card, try to maintain it. You can keep them active by paying the minimum membership fees for the credit cards.

How to Improve Your Equifax Credit Score

There are various ways to improve your Equifax credit score. Whether you are building your credit score from scratch or rebuilding your credit after some missed payments, understanding the factors that go into your credit scores will help you understand the steps that you need to take.

• Make On-Time Payments: One of the predominant factors that influences your Equifax credit score is on-time payments. Your payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score. Any of the on-time, late, and missed payments of yours get reported in the national consumer credit bureaus. Setting up auto-pay for your bank accounts is also a smart way to make payments on time.
• Clear Existing Credit Balances: The amount of money you owe accounts for 30% of your credit score. There are two ways to handle this situation.
• The percentage of revolving credit cards is a significant factor. If you have more than one credit card, make sure payments are made for all of them.
• Even after making payments on your credit card bills, if you are facing a high utilization rate with a low credit limit, try paying your credit card bills before the due date or twice a month.
• Maintain Long Standing Credit Account: When you lose a credit card account, you lose all the credit that is associated with it. Length of your credit history amounts to 15% of your credit score. Any card payment history will remain on your credit account for about 10 years. If you close the available credit card, you will lose all the credit that is associated with the credit card.
• Diversified Credit Mix: Diversified credit accounts contribute to 10% of your credit score. This displays that you are capable of managing different credits. This will help boost your credit score, but it may not make you eligible for a loan.
• Restrict Credit Applications: Applying for too many credit applications within a short period counts as a hard inquiry. Too many hard enquiries within a short period of time will harm your credit score. And Multiple enquiries within a short period of time will double the effect of reducing the score.
• Dispute Inaccurate Information: If you have any inaccurate credit information, it is reflected in your credit report. In some cases, your identity could have been stolen, and there could be credit taken under your name with demeaning remarks. File a dispute with the relevant credit bureau and have it rectified.
• Become an Unauthorized User: If you are in the process of rebuilding your credit score or are new to credit, you can request an authorized person with responsible credit to give a positive effect on your credit score.

How to Raise a Dispute with Equifax (Credit Report Errors)

There are situations where someone has stolen your identity, and it gets reflected on your Equifax credit report. In that case, you can raise a dispute with the Equifax credit bureau to rectify the error.

The following is the list of steps to file a complaint regarding the errors in your Equifax credit report.

Step 1: Visit the website at Equifax.

Step 2: Click on the "Support" menu.

Step 3: Click the" Customer Grievance Redressal" option.

Step 4: Click the "Consumer Dispute" option under the "Compensation Framework" section.

Step 5: In the "Consumer Dispute" form, feed the correct information into the text boxes given. You need to attach and upload the digital KYC documents to Equifax.

Step 6: Click Submit.

Once submitted, Equifax starts investigating your credit report. If an update is required, Equifax starts making the necessary changes in the report. If not, it notifies you, and no changes are made in your credit report.

Some KYC documents are accepted as identity and address proof for authentication.

Id Proofs:

• Copy of a valid driving license
• Copy of PAN card
• Copy of the voter's ID card
• Copy of a valid passport

Address Proofs:

• Copy of mobile/landline phone bill
• Copy of credit card/bank statements
• Copy of the ration card
• Copy of other utility bills

Equifax Customer Care Details

As explained in the earlier section, you can raise a dispute for any errors found in your credit report. If your grievance or complaint is not resolved, you can take the following actions to fix it.

Contact Details:

• Email: ecissupport@equifax.com
• Phone: 1800-209-3247
• Postal Mail: Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt Ltd., 3rd floor, Building no. 9, Solitaire Corporate Park, Andheri Ghatkopar Link Road, Andheri East, Mumbai – 400093.

Some of the other information required:

• Report order number
• Type of Dispute
• Support NOC Documents

If these steps were not enough to resolve your issues, you can contact the following Nodal officers.

Yashpal Deora: yashpal.deora@equifax.com or 1800-209-3247

Swati Sawant: swati.sawant@equifax.com or 1800-209-3247

Importance of Regularly Checking Your Equifax Credit Score

Checking your credit score regularly helps you stay up to date on your latest score. If your credit score falls, you can identify the reason and rebuild it. If there is an increase in your credit score, you can also find the reason behind it and work towards maintaining the same. Let us explore the reasons for regularly reviewing your credit reports. They are:

• Track Your Credit Score Changes: You need to check your credit score to identify the results of your financial actions. This is the ideal way to determine the ways and methods in which you can improve your credit score. If your credit score drops, it is an indicator that you need to watch your financial habits.
• Make Sure Your Credit Report is Error-Free: Sometimes a low credit score could be due to an error in your credit report. This could be an unwanted loan burden on your head. You can report this error on your credit report to the credit bureau and get it rectified by them.
• Identify Better Credit Card and Loan Deals: Knowing your recent credit score will help you to leverage on better credit deals. If your credit score is high, you are eligible for premium credit cards and loans. You can also get an upper hand with better negotiating terms and conditions.

Conclusion

In the end, your Equifax Credit Score is a vital indicator of your financial health. You need to monitor your credit score regularly to maintain responsible credit habits. This way, you can strengthen your credit report and credit profile and attract premium credit card and loan offers with greater negotiating power.