• New online guide for consumers provides key facts and tips
• Only one in twenty UK cardholders* have requested to see their credit report

APACS, the UK payments association, today (7 August 2006) publishes a new advice guide on Checking your Credit Record (also known as credit report) to give UK consumers a better understanding of what their credit record is and why it pays to undertake regular checks.

Available from www.choosingandusing.com the guide gives consumers a basic introduction to the way credit records are used by lenders to make borrowing decisions, what information is held, how to check their record and what to do if something is amiss. Research from Experians CreditExpert monitoring service shows that just one in twenty people with credit cards in the UK* have requested to see their credit report and one in five people (21 per cent) admit they have no idea whether they have a good or bad credit score.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, says

We hope our new guide will give people a quick route to find out everything they need to know about their credit record.

The fact that only one in twenty people check their credit report is not good news and we would like to see this figure improve. We would encourage everyone to check their credit report at least once a year - not only is it the best way to ensure they dont have trouble accessing credit when they need it, it can also provide peace of mind that they have not been a victim of identity theft and that no one has successfully applied for credit in their name.


The guide, available at http://www.choosingandusing.com/Downloads/credit.pdf
and www.apacs.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases.html is downloadable as a PDF and details:

-what a credit report is and why it is important;
-what information is held by the credit reference agencies;
-how to keep your credit status healthy;
-how to obtain your own credit report.

Quinn continues:
The information on your credit report is vital in helping lenders make decisions about what consumers can afford to borrow. Equally it enables us as customers to have access to credit should we need it, giving us the flexibility to control how and when we pay for goods and services and be prepared for emergencies.

We advise all consumers to check and monitor their credit report - it is an important piece of information that affects our financial health. On rare occasions, there may be incorrect or outdated information held on file and consumers have a right to correct this.

Banks and credit card companies base their lending decisions on the information you provide on application in conjunction with the information on your credit report held by one or more of the following credit reference agencies:

·Callcredit: 0870 060 1414 www.callcredit.plc.uk
·Equifax: 0870 010 0583 www.equifax.co.uk
·Experian: 0870 241 6212 www.experian.co.uk

You can contact each of the three credit reference agencies to ask for a copy of your credit record at any time. There is a statutory fee of £2 for each report. Reports are also available online but may cost you more. The information held by each agency can vary so it is vital to check all three. We recommend you check your record with each agency at least annually. Not only is this a good way of ensuring that the information held about you is correct but it can also provide peace of mind that you have not been victim of identity theft.

ENDS

For further information contact the APACS Cards Information Office:
T: 0870 420 3208 E: apacs@fourcommunications.com

·APACS is the UK payments association. It provides the forum for the UK's financial institutions to come together on non-competitive issues, to develop banking systems for the future and to provide innovation and developments in payments. It is also the banking industry voice on payments issues such as plastic cards, payment fraud, cheques, electronic payments and cash and is the banking organisation coordinating chip and PIN roll-out.
·* Statistics provided by the CreditExpert/MORI Personal Credit Index 2006, www.creditexpert.co.uk