Do you need money urgently? Are you planning to apply for a personal loan?
Your credit score is essential in Singapore because it shows financial institutions if you’re a dependable customer. As such, they can decide whether to give you a loan, the interest they can impose, and so forth.
Your credit score has a significant impact on your life. If you haven’t been entirely diligent, that’s a problem pain your bills or other debts.
We’re here to help.
Read the article below to learn how to get your credit score and credit report from Credit Bureau Singapore. We’ll also offer some valuable tips to improve your rating to obtain the personal loan you want.
What Does Your Credit Score Represent?
Your credit score represents a number that quantifies all actions in your financial history. Thus, everything you did financially-wise receives a grade. These grades don’t weigh the same, so they’re assigned specific proportions. Then, CBS (Credit Bureau Singapore) calculates a weighted average representing your credit score.
Aka your doom.
In Singapore, the lowest credit score is 1000, representing the worst possible financial choices. People with this rating are believed to have the highest risk of defaulting on their future loans because they weren’t responsible enough financially so far.
Then there’s the other side of the spectrum:
People with the highest credit scores in Singapore receive a rating of 2000. This rating means they’re trustworthy clients who will most likely pay their new loans as diligently as before.
Here’s a neat table courtesy of Credit Bureau Singapore:
| Credit score | Risk grade Probability of default |
| 1911 to 2000 | AA ≤ 0.27% |
| 1844 to 1910 | BB 0.27% to 0.67% |
| 1825 to 1843 | CC 0.67% to 0.88% |
| 1813 to 1824 | DD 0.88% to 1.03% |
| 1782 to 1812 | EE 1.03% to 1.58% |
| 1755 to 1781 | FF 1.58% to 2.28% |
| 1724 to 1754 | GG 2.28% to 3.48% |
| 1000 to 1723 | HH 3.48% |
This table shows how your credit score correlates with the risk of default from financial institutions’ perspective.
Firstly, notice that even the highest credit ratings between 1911 and 2000 still have some risk of default, albeit tiny at just 0.27%.
Secondly, notice that the lowest credit score category is extensive compared to the others. This category is defined from 1000 to 1723, with 723 points between the interval’s edges. By comparison, the other credit score categories have approximately 30 points difference.
That seems unfair.
Pro tip: It’s vital to choose your licensed moneylender carefully, especially if you’re in a lower credit score category. You want your credit provider to give you the benefit of the doubt if your credit rating is, for example, 1723 instead of 1724.
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How To Get Your Free Credit Score From CBS
You can get your credit score from CBS directly at this link, but you must pay a $6.42 fee.
There’s a loophole:
If you don’t want to pay this fee, you can apply for a new credit card with a CBS member – like all major banks in Singapore. When they send you the application reply, they’ll also enclose instructions to get your CBS credit report for free within 30 days.
Warning: Don’t apply for a new credit card or loan that you don’t need.
Rejected applications will decrease your credit score even more. Even if your application goes through, having too many credit facilities is another red flag for CBS. Consequently, it can lower your credit score again.
How Does Your Credit Score Affect Your Life?
We have already discussed the connection between your credit score and your risk of default. Thus, banks and licensed moneylenders in Singapore use your credit score to determine whether you’ll repay the money they lend you or not.
However, banks and the government have stricter conditions.
Banks in Singapore mainly offer loans to people with good credit ratings and high-income levels, especially when considerable sums are involved.
The same goes for HDB. If you want to apply for an HDB loan, you’ll have to be full-time employed, have regular CPF contributions, and have a good credit score.
What if your credit score sucks?
In this case, you can:
- Apply for a smaller loan. The bank you work with may not approve a sum that’s six times your monthly salary, but it can authorise a sum that’s three times that much. If you repay this loan diligently, you’ll be showing them your good faith. Thus, they’re more likely to grant you a better loan next time.
- Settle for higher interest. Your bank may ask you to pay more interest for your loan, especially for higher principal amounts and longer tenures. The bank uses this strategy to ensure it gets more of its money back.
- Apply with a trustworthy licensed moneylender. Don’t risk another rejection if you’re fairly sure that a bank won’t approve your loan request. Too many rejected applications weigh down your credit score and thus decrease your chances even more. That’s why it’s best to choose a dependable licensed moneylender from the get-go. Besides, your credit score will improve if you reimburse this loan correctly.
What Causes A Bad Credit Score?
CBS’s algorithm uses all the available information on your past financial choices. Thus, your credit score doesn’t stay fixed throughout your lifetime but varies depending on those decisions.
The factors that weigh down your credit rating include:
- No or little credit history. Not having any loans or credit facilities isn’t an advantage. CBS can’t decide your risk of default based on zero information. That’s why no financial history entails a lower credit score.
- More debt. More debt is associated with a higher risk of default. For example, if your total instalments are $4,000/month and an emergency happens, you’re more likely to delay some payments than if your instalments were $500/month.
- Delinquency history. People with delinquency in their past are considered more likely to commit felonies in the future.
- Adverse credit history. If you pay your bills and instalments late constantly, you’re more likely to do that in the future too.
- Too many enquiries. Constantly submitting for loan applications is a sign of desperation. It also shows financial institutions that you can’t plan your budget.
Why Do Some Institutions Accept Your Application & Others Refuse It?
Let’s say your credit score is in the DD category. That means your rating isn’t very high, but it isn’t shallow either.
Take this example:
Your salary is $20,000/year; you’re a citizen or PR and want to apply for a $10,000 loan. That sum is six times your monthly income.
Some financial institutions might reject your application, and others will approve it because:
- Banks (especially) have lower risk appetites. That’s also why some set a minimum income of $30k/year and a maximum age limit of 65.
- Financial institutions have internal credit scores and risk profiles. For example, Urgent Loan Moneylenders Singapore have lower internal credit score thresholds because they deal with emergency loans. By comparison, certain banks deal with higher principal sums, requiring more assurances.
How To Improve Your Credit Score
You might need to have a good credit score for a loan, unless you can work with a reliable platform that can help you.
If your credit score could use some polishing, here’s what you should do:
- Pay your bills timely. You can ask your bank to pay the bills from your account. That way, you avoid outstanding expenses and the hassle of going through all those bills yourself.
- Close unused credit facilities. However, keep at least one active credit card to build your credit history. Don’t spend more on it than you need, and repay your balance in full each month to improve your credit score.
- Don’t send too many loan applications at a time. This strategy doesn’t increase your approval chances; it lowers them. Instead, consider applying with Urgent Loan Moneylenders Singapore because you’ll get multiple quotes within the day.
Here’s the problem:
Some credit score-related issues may be impossible to fix.
For example, you may have:
- Defaulted on other loans
- Declared bankruptcy
- Been involved in debt management programmes to manage snowballing debt
Your credit report shows if you’re still in those situations or not, using these codes:
- It represents loan default, and it’s the worst code on your credit history because it shows the highest probability of doing that again. A W code stays on your credit history forever,
- R or S. If you couldn’t pay your loans at some point, you may have renegotiated a plan with the bank. If the loan is restructured, you get the letter R. If you’ve settled that outstanding debt, you get the letter S.
- This code shows involuntary account closure with an outstanding balance.
In Conclusion
Your credit score is essential because it influences the probability of getting a new loan, the sums you have access to, and the future interest rates.
Even if you have a low credit score or one “stained” with a W, there’s still hope.
Singapore Urgent Loan Lenders considers your current ability to repay the loan and your efforts to correct your past mistakes. You can always find a quick, convenient, low-interest option with us.