Equifax vs CIBIL vs Experian vs High Mark: A comparative overview

Equifax, CIBIL, Experian and High Mark are all credit reporting agencies also called credit bureaus. These agencies maintain the credit data of businesses and individuals. Each of these firms analyze credit data using different methods and calculate the credit ranking and score of businesses. Let’s delve into an analysis on Equifax vs CIBIL vs Experian vs High Mark.

Equifax vs CIBIL vs Experian vs High Mark: Comparison

As a business looking to obtain a credit report with credit ranking from one of the credit bureaus can help you know how your credit ranking is and aid you in assessing whether you can get a loan approval from a financial institution.

As a business doing an analysis on Equifax vs CIBIL vs Experian vs High Mark, differences between credit agencies must be understood from the point of view of obtaining the credit report. Have a look at the points below to understand the differences of these credit bureaus that are important for a business to know:

	Equifax	CIBIL	Experian	High Mark
Credit score range	300-900	300-900	300-900	300-900
Cost of a credit report	₹400 (excluding GST) for Credit report and credit score	₹550 for Credit report and credit score	₹399 for Credit report and credit score	₹399 for Credit report and credit score
Time taken to receive a report	Instantly if the payment is made online. Offline applications will take 7 days.	Instantly if the payment is made online. Offline applications will take 7 days.	Instantly if the payment is made online. Offline applications will take 7 days.	Instantly once the payment is made
Products and services offered to businesses	Portfolio review reports, CIBIL Bureau analyser, CIBIL Company credit information report, etc.	Portfolio management, Industry diagnostics, Credit risk and fraud management, etc.	Customer acquisition, Data and analytics, Customer management	Identification and anti-fraud services, Predictive analytics and scorecards

All credit bureaus in India score the companies between 300 – 900 based on the credit information collected by the bureaus from the lenders.

Also read: What Is the Difference Between a Credit Score and a CIBIL Score?

Similarities between the credit bureaus

The credit bureaus share some similarities:

• The credit information report and score given by all four agencies are valid. The credit score may differ as each agency has its own scoring methods. Lenders are aware of these methods and will scrutinise a company’s credit report accordingly.
• All credit agencies consider factors like type of credit, age of credit, repayment history, credit exposure, and credit inquiries while calculating the credit score.
• All credit bureaus receive the same information from lending institutions as per rules mandated by RBI.
• All are licensed by RBI to operate in India as credit agencies.

Also read: How to increase CIBIL score?

About credit bureaus

Equifax, CIBIL, Experian and High Mark are the four main credit agencies operational in India and licensed by RBI. Given below is a brief about these institutions:

Equifax

Headquartered in Mumbai, Equifax is a joint venture between Equifax Inc., USA and seven leading financial institutions in India. It has banks, NBFCs and other financial institutions as its members. The company opened a separate credit bureau to cater to the increasing lending and regulatory needs of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).

TransUnion CIBIL

Formerly known as Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited, this is a credit information company headquartered in India. It has over 5000 members–including all leading banks, financial institutions, non-banking financial companies and housing finance companies–and maintain credit records of over 1000 million individuals and businesses. The company generates Credit Information Reports (CIR), CIBIL commercial reports and CIBIL ranks for commercial enterprises.

Also read: Can I Obtain a Loan Without a CIBIL Score?

Experian

Experian PLC is a globally recognised consumer credit reporting company headquartered in Ireland. It collects and evaluates information on more than 1 billion individuals and companies. The company operates in 37 countries including India. Experian entered India in December 2006 and established itself as two companies:

Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Ltd is a joint venture with Federal Bank, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Magna Finance, Indian Bank, Sundaram Finance and Union Bank of India and provides credit information services. Experian Services India Private Ltd offers data insights to Indian businesses ways to leverage the data to minimise risk and maximise revenue.

CRIF High Mark

CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services is a credit bureau based in Mumbai. Founded by Dr. Anil Pandya as a start-up credit bureau in 2007, the company is credited with building the India’s first and world’s largest Micro-Finance Bureau Database. CRIF High Mark started as High Mark and merged with CRIF in 2014 becoming CRIF High Mark. Apart from offering credit score, CRIF High Mark provides analytics, data management and related software solutions to its customers.

It is good to have a check on your business credit score once the company pays off a debt. This will help you find out the credit score and credit ranking and determine whether the loan repayment has had a positive or negative impact on your credit score. This can help you improve your credit score.