What is a CRA?

You may have heard your Broker or someone else refer to the term 'CRA" It's quite simple, CRA is industry Jargon for it's real name "CRAA' which stands for Credit Reporting Agency of Australia.

Why have this service?

Before a bank or lending institution will lend you money, they need to know whether you can pay it back or not, and your CRA report plays a big part when it comes to their lending approvals.

How do they do this?

The answer is simple, through a Credit Reporting Agency. The most widely used agency is "Veda Advantage" This agency stores a history of all your credit applications, and makes it available to Banks and other lenders, including phone companies & pay tv operators.

How it works

Chances are that if you have ever applied for some sort of credit, there will be a Credit Report listing on you. Let me use a typical example of how these institutions use this service. (Firstly you should know that it is illegal for any organisation to view your Credit Report without your written consent.)

You have just applied to have pay tv installed in your home. They ask you to fill in one of their forms, within this form, there will be a release that you sign to authorise the company to access your Credit file. This company will then see if you have missed or defaulted on any loans in the past, now bear in mind that they will not be looking for just phone and pay tv accounts you have not paid or were late, they can refuse your application if they see that you have defaulted on any loan.

Who puts the listings there?

Any company that you have not paid on time or not paid at all, will alert the Credit Reporting Agency so that future creditors can be warned that you may be a potential risk for credit.

Am I allowed to see my CRA?

Yes you can. Getting a report of your CRA is a free service from Veda Advantage which takes around 7 days, otherwise you can get the premium service where you pay $40 and you will receive it within 24 hours either by Post, Fax or email, it's your choice. Payment can also be charged to your home phone or credit card.

Can I have these bad listings removed?

If you have found that you have a bad credit listing, we may be able to remove it. Download our PDF information booklet