How Many Credit Bureaus Are There In South Africa ANSWERED!


If you’re wondering what registered credit bureaus you can use to get a credit report in South Africa, then you’ve come to the right place.

According to the Credit Bureau Association (CBA), there’s a total of 11 credit bureaus in South Africa that’s broken up into these three categories:

  1. Full member credit bureaus: TransUnion, Xpert Decision Systems (XDS), Compuscan, and Experian.
  2. Intermediate credit bureaus: Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), and Tenant Profile Network (TPN)
  3. Reseller credit Bureaus: Lexis Nexis Risk Management Services, Credit IT Data Risk Management Solution, Africa Credit Bureau, and Searchworks 360.

Keep reading to find out which of these credit bureaus will give you access to a free credit report and score, and exactly how to use them.

4 ‘Full Member Credit Bureaus’ (Get Your Free Credit Report & Score Here)

These full member credit bureaus are known as South Africa’s leading consumer credit bureaus because they are more consumer-orientated. So if you’re looking to get a free credit report or score, then this is where you would want to look.

Quick note on 3rd party websites.

Before I dive into the options you have at your disposal, keep in mind that some credit bureaus don’t offer credit reports directly. They have third party companies that are powered by one of the four main credit bureaus.

For example, Experian uses a website called mycreditexpert.co.za to give the public access to their free credit reports.

That said, ill let you know beneath each credit bureau below which 3rd party platforms they power so that you know exactly who to use

Quick note on credit score numbering types.

Each credit bureaus may report your credit score differently for two reasons. Some credit bureaus have access to more of your credit activity than others, and each credit bureaus will have a different numbering system. For example:

  • Experian uses a score rating between 0-705.
  • TransUnion uses a score rating between 0-999.

That said, if you’re trying to track your credit score, always use a platform powered by the same credit bureau so that you can get an accurate view of the trend.

01. Experian Credit Bureau

Experian is one of South Africa’s most popular credit bureaus that powers two third party credit report providers that you can use to get your free credit report.

mycreditexpert.co.za

Experian doesn’t precisely provide free credit reports directly to the consumer; however, when you enquire, they direct you to a 3rd party website called mycreditexpert.co.za that’s powered by Experian.

ClearScore (My favourite credit report platfort of all time)

I recently came across a much better option that’s also powered by Experian. It gives you LIFETIME access to your credit score and reports rather than only giving it to you periodically. Honestly, I think they’re the only company in the whole of South Africa that offers this. (Please don’t quote me on that.)

The platform is called ClearScore, and it’s simply BRILLIANT. It’s specially designed for consumers that don’t like wasting money online, and it can even be downloaded on your phone.

If you would like to find out more about ClearScore and how to use the platform, then read my in-depth review on the ClearScore here.

02. TransUnion Credit Bureau

TransUnion is another one of South Africa’s leading consumer-based credit Bureaus that offers free credit reports directly to the public.

That said, the standard that they offer doesn’t come close to ClearScore. I’ve gotten a free credit report from TransUnion before, and to be honest, it wasn’t really helpful. ClearScore gives details on each area you can improve on, while TransUnion just lays it all out for you to decode it on your own.

On top of that, TransUnion doesn’t offer a free credit score, you need to get the paid version to get access to that.

And the paid version? How great is that? Well, I’ve also used the paid version, and let me tell you, I prefer the ClearScore platform that’s 100% every day of the week when compared to the TransUnion paid version.

If you would like to access your free TransUnion credit report then click on this link.

If it sounds like I sound a bit offish about TransUnion it’s probably because I am. I spent a full year paying for a platform that wasn’t nearly as helpful as a platform that I could have been using for free this entire time.

However, that’s just my opinion. If you want to give TransUnion a go, then please don’t let me put you off.

03. Compuscan Credit Bureau

I don’t have much experience with Compuscan; however, I do know that they are also one of South Africa’s registered credit bureaus.

If you to the Compuscan website here, and navigate to get your free credit report, they also send you to the third party website mycreditcheck.co.za that I mentioned in the Experian section above.

This means that ‘My Credit Check’ is powered by both Experian and Compuscan, so if you would like to use these two credit bureaus to get your free credit report, then apply for it at mycreditcheck.co.za.

If you’re wondering what kind of information you’ll get once you signed up to ‘My Credit Check,’ then read my article that compares 4 ways to get a free credit report in South Africa. Once you’re on the article, please scroll down to option 2, there you’ll see a detailed review of My Credit Check. I hope it helps!

04. Xpert Decision Systems (XDS) Credit Bureau

XDS is another credit bureau that offers free credit reports to consumers in South Africa. To get your credit report, you’ll need to use a website that they own called Splendi.

If you would like to read a detailed review of Splendi and how to sign up, then read this article. Once you’re in the article, find the section covering Splendi by scrolling down to number 4 on the list.

Final Thoughts

That wraps it up for the full member credit bureaus. If there’s anything you should take away from this article, it’s that you should give ClearScore a try. Really, guys and girls, it’s a brilliant platform.

If you want a platform that can give you free lifetime access to your credit report, score as well as credit options, then this platform is for you. (And no, I’m not making any money for recommending them, I’m just really impressed with their platform.)

YOUR TURN: Do you feel that I missed something important? Is there any other information that you think deserves to be in this article? Let us know in the comments below so we can start learning from each other.

BONUS CONTENT: Want a free credit report that comes with a score? Ready my article that compares 4 ways that you can get a credit report and score in South Africa.

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