Centrix is proud to announce a partnership with FinCap, supporting the MoneyTalks free budgeting advice service for New Zealanders.

Centrix will provide MoneyTalks Financial Mentors with full and free immediate/real-time access to the credit records of their clients.  Gaining access to this up-to-date credit information will help the Financial Mentors be more informed about their client’s financial positon. In particular, this information will give knowledge of any client defaults, payment obligations and payment trends with credit providers who participate in Comprehensive Credit Reporting*.  Client credit information is shared with their consent.

The information presented in a Centrix credit report will help MoneyTalks Financial Mentors be:

• More informed about their client’s credit position.
• In a better position to have a more robust discussion with their client.
• Able to better understand if the client has been applying for credit in recent time, how they are paying their bills and if they have any defaults.
• Able to educate their clients about the importance of paying bills on time and the impact on their credit scores.

Together, FinCap and Centrix are proud to support New Zealand and help Kiwis make confident financial decisions.

*What is Comprehensive Credit Reporting?

Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) provides payment information on individuals.  Centrix currently have 56 credit providers who report monthly on their full active customer base.  This means, in addition to the traditional negative credit report that would show enquiries and defaults, you will also see open and closed credit facilities, limits of those facilities and a 24 month payment trend indicating how the bills are paid i.e. current, 1 month down, 2 months down etc.

What is a credit score?

A credit score is a number between 1 and 1000 that indicates how likely a consumer is to pay their bills on time. A high score means they may get better offers from banks, insurance and utility companies. A low score can result in companies refusing to lend to them or charge you a higher interest rate.

Credit scores take into consideration a number of factors including the length of credit history, payment history performance, types of credit (such as secured or unsecured), amount owed and if there are any defaults or judgments reported.

The Centrix credit bureau score ranges from 1 (for the very high risk) to 1,000 (for the very low risk) and the scores are distributed across 5 bands.  The table below page indicates what percentage of credit consumers fall into each band and how most credit providers manage consumers in each of the bands.