On 1 July, along with some updates to our privacy policy, we made some changes to the way we share credit information with credit reporters.
These changes mean we can start sharing positive credit information with third-party credit agencies or ‘credit reporters’. This is known as Comprehensive Credit Reporting. Up until now we have only supplied negative information.
We gave customers a heads up of the changes by email at the end of May, but now they’ve taken effect we thought this was a good time to go into a little bit more detail.
Why is Powershop doing this?
Comprehensive Credit Reporting means that positive credit information, such as paying your bills on time, will now contribute towards your credit profile. We reckon this is a good thing because it provides a more complete, accurate and fairer picture of your creditworthiness. It also helps people who’ve had previous financial difficulties show their recovery to a positive credit state.
Who has access to my credit information?
Credit reporters gather and share information about the credit history of individuals in accordance with the Credit Reporting Privacy Code. Credit reporters share this information with ‘credit providers’ like banks and finance companies (for a fee and only with your consent). This information helps credit providers to make decisions about whether a potential customer is a good credit risk.
Note that credit isn’t just about lending money – phone and power companies also give credit and are termed ‘non-financial’ credit providers. Consent to have your credit information shared by your phone or power company is typically given when you accept their terms and conditions on sign-up, and may also be detailed in a separate privacy policy.
What information does Powershop provide to credit reporters?
The information we share with credit reporters is shared in accordance with the Credit Reporting Privacy Code and includes the following information:
- Identification information of individuals
- Positive data (account repayment information) and negative data (credit default information) about each individual’s credit status
- The status of any credit defaults.
You can check out our updated Privacy Policy here.
Who are the credit reporters?
The credit reporting agencies in NZ are Centrix, illion (formerly Dun and Bradstreet) and Equifax (formerly Veda). You can contact each of these agencies directly to check your free credit report and see your free credit score.
Where can I find out more?
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner website has some useful information on credit reporting and what it means for you as well as a summary of your rights under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code.