Which Score - Experian Credit Score or CIBIL Score - is a better option? In order to avail credit facilities (loans & credit cards), the lender must see your ability to repay debts. The credit scores determines your creditworthiness. These scores gives the lender an assurance that you’ll pay the loan amount in the specified tenure. Credit scores are based on your historical credit transactions or repayments (like payment of credit card bills right on time). Credit scores are submitted by credit information companies. These scores are three digit numbers formulated from the information gathered by partner banks and NBFCs. Maintaining a high score has some privileges, like, the borrower can negotiate with the lender with respect to interest rates and the loan amount. They can get discounted interest rates and high loan amounts. In India, the main players in the credit information sector are, Experian and CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau of India). What is Similarity between Experian Credit Score and CIBIL Score? Before delving into the difference between these scores, let’s first understand the similarities amongst them. These are scores that help lenders determine the creditworthiness of an individual on the basis of their past credit records. If these scores are good enough the loan is extended by the lender to the borrower easily. What is Difference between Experian Credit Score and CIBIL Score? The only difference that sets these scores apart is that - both these scores are provided by different credit information companies. However, they serve the same purpose, which is, to produce the credit track record of an individual. There are some variations in scores as each of them has their own scoring model. Experian is a credit information and reporting company which determines the credit worthiness of a borrower based on Experian credit score. It is a global credit information company which has a tie up with a few Indian banks in comparison to TransUnion CIBIL. If you’re someone who stays abroad, Experian is a more relevant option for you. An Experian Credit Score is widely accepted in American and European countries. Experian scores ranges from 330-830, with score closer to 330 representing a bad one and a score closer to 830 representing a good score. Higher the score, the less of a credit risk are you. Experian credit score can be branched out into two types Generic score and Custom score. On the other hand of the weight balance, we have, CIBIL. Of course, CIBIL has more
weightage over Experian. The reason being 85-90% of the banks in India have partnered with CIBIL. This makes CIBIL as the most prominent credit information company of India and also the oldest one. The scores assigned by CIBIL to individuals is called ​CIBIL score​. It is scaled from 300-900. A score closer to 300 represents a bad score implying that getting a loan will not be an easy affair. On the other hand, a score closer to 900 implies that your loan will be sanctioned without any difficulty. Thus, it is highly recommended to maintain a good CIBIL score if you seeking out loans and credit cards in India. Regardless, you should always check your Experian credit score as well as your CIBIL score. In order to improve these scores, make sure you pay your credit card bills timely as well as your EMIs.