Defined Terms and Documents       

Credit Rating Agency or Credit Reporting Bodies means

Veda is the largest credit reference agency in Australia ^[1] and New Zealand.  It provides Credit Reports, Credit Scores, and marketing analytics services.  Veda has been acquired by Equifax.

Dun and Bradstreet www.checkyourcredit.com.au is another major private credit reporting agency in Australia which gather information on Australian Credit Cardholders not limited to Credit Limits, defaults and number of Credit Cards for many Cardholders.  Australian Credit Card Issuers source such information to ascertain the Credit Rating of a Credit Card applicant.

Experian is the third data collection agency that Australian Credit Card Issuers seek Credit Score and Credit Report from.

Often banks will use a Credit Score to help determine whether to issue to the applicant a Credit Card and to determine the Card Limit.  This Credit Score is based on the information in an applicant's credit file or credit report.  A copy of applicant's Credit Score and credit file is available online from independent credit reporting bureaus (or agencies) such as Veda and Dun and Bradstreet.  A common definition of a credit file is: ‘a record of your credit history’.   All applicant's should have a credit file established upon a Credit Card Issuer seeking a Credit Score from a Credit Reference Agency.

"Credit providers (including banks, building societies, utility companies and telecommunications carriers) provide information about individuals’ activities in relation to consumer credit to central databases managed by credit reporting bodies (CRBs). CRBs are then able to include that information on the individual’s credit report. A credit provider can obtain a copy of an individual’s credit report from a CRB to assist them in deciding whether to provide an individual with consumer credit, or to manage credit that has been provided to an individual.   

Part IIIA of the Privacy Act sets out the specific types of personal information that credit providers and CRBs are permitted to collect about an individual for the purpose of inclusion in that individual’s credit report. That Part also determines who is permitted to access an individual’s credit report and for what purposes. It also provides privacy safeguards in relation to the handling of the information."

Implement Financial System Inquiry (Murray Inquiry) recommendations to support credit reporting and access to personal data, support innovation in the payments system and enhance regulator focus on competition. By supporting competition in the sector more broadly, implementation of these recommendations should have a positive impact upon competition in the credit card market.