Why you must buy your official UAE credit report; cost revealed

The UAE banks will sooner or later start using credit reports to access credit applications of customers. Those with good credit rating may get higher credit limit and lower interest rate, but an error in your report could change things drastically.

Hence, it will become necessary for everyone to at least check their credit reports as and when they become available from Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), a federal government institution.

On Monday, the Bureau said it had started issuing credit reports to banks and financial institutions with consumers likely to get their reports shortly.

About 5.2 million credit facilities of individuals residing in the UAE have been added to the bureau’s credit reporting system that includes records about consumers’ debt levels, financial obligations, credit payments, history of default payments and late payments.

Although AECB has not announced the charge yet, Shahram Safai, Partner, Afridi & Angell, expects the charge to be up to Dh100 – the amount previously charged by Emcredit, the first credit bureau established in the UAE.

“As a precedent, Emcredit was the first Credit Bureau established in the UAE, and we understand that it charges up to Dh100 per credit report, as such we expect AECB to charge a comparable price to the previous.”

In contrast, US credit companies charge around $15 (Dh55) for such a report, and UK credit companies charge about £2 (Dh12), reveals Safai.

Emirates 24|7 reported earlier five ways to improve your credit score in UAE.

Last month, Peter England, Chief Executive Officer, RAK Bank, told this website that banks had the discretion as to whether they want to use the [credit bureau] data or not for the moment to access credit applications.

“It is not that we have to use the data to make credit decisions, but in most cases, most banks will utilise the data to ensure they make the right decisions,” he had said.

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