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Your payment habits now to appear on credit files
Banks are set to share more of your personal information with each other, in an attempt to spot early signs of financial difficulty.In addition to the data they already share, which includes how you manage your credit accounts and the amount of credit you have available, they are also going to start identifying customers who only make the minimum payment each month, as well as people who use their credit card to withdraw cash.
The move, which has been welcomed by the UK’s payment association APACS, is likely to affect around 3.5 million cardholders who make only minimum payments. Our own research has found that around 3% of card holders withdraw cash regularly, with a further 28% admitting to having done so very occasionally.
These new data sharing proposals are due to come into effect by the end of this year, but the core components of your credit file – namely how you have paid your credit accounts in the past and whether you are on the Electoral Roll – remain key in any application you might make.
You can make sure that everything is as it should be on your credit file by checking it online at checkmyfile now. We’re the only place in the UK you can see, or monitor, all three of your agency files online together and our expert credit analysts are on hand if you need any help.
