5 secrets your CIBIL credit report will always hide

While it certainly holds some vital information about your credit behaviour, a credit report doesn't include these five things...

Photograph: See-ming Lee/Creative Commons

The three digit number of your CIBIL credit score has a whole lot of information that makes it up. It is a summary of all your credit activity. All your late payments and overspending on credit get a place in your CIBIL report. There are several bits of financial information that do not come into your CIBIL report though. Let's take a look.

For most Indians, the CIBIL report is a new phenomenon. We are still exploring its working and value. Some sources of information make the CIBIL report feel like omnipresent document which takes into account every monetary transaction. 

1. Credit information about your spouse

Your spouse's credit standing has no mention in your CIBIL report. Even though banks offer you the option of taking a joint loan to increase eligibility, your spouse's credit behaviour is not given any weight age in your CIBIL report.

2. Information about your utility bills payments

Utility bills would mean bills including electric bills, water, society charges, telephone bills etc. Your CIBIL report does not track your record in payment of any of these bills. There has been some indication that mobile payment bill records might be included in the CIBIL report but currently they are not.

3. Your income

While the Income Tax officers are certainly interested in all your sources of income, the CIBIL report assessment companies like CIBIL, Experian etc do not have the slightest inclination too pursue this information. Hence your income has no mention in the CIBIL report. It is concerned about your borrowing and repayments.

4. What and where you spend

Be it a luxury car that you can ill afford or a large charitable donation, the CIBIL report does not distinguish among your spending. It is not taking a judgement call on your expenditure as long as your repayments on loan and credit cards are made on time.

5. Interest rate data

Your CIBIL report does not have data about the interest rate that you pay on your loans or credit card. In fact it is the information in your CIBIL report that affects the interest rate at which the bank will be willing to lend to you.

The author is a credit expert with 10 years of experience in personal finance and consumer banking industry and another 7 years in credit bureau sector. Rajiv was instrumental in setting up India's first credit bureau, Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL). He has also worked with Citibank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Experian in various capacities.