Foreign Credit Report

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The UAE is home to a populace of over 200 nationalities and welcomes thousands of expatriates every year. This also means that a large number of individuals leave behind their credit history in their home country.

The Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) has collaborated with Nova Credit to provide foreign credit reports to banks in the UAE. This collaboration works to offer seamless and secure access to international customer permitted credit data from more than 10 nations — Kenya, Australia, India, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Switzerland.

In this article, we will learn more about foreign credit reports. 

Why is a Foreign Credit Report Important?

A foreign credit report proves to be helpful in the following ways -

  • Enhances the risk assessment for the local banks and lending institutions
  • Improves one’s profile with respect to eligibility for new credit

AECB, in collaboration with Nova Credit (and only after your consent), translates your foreign credit report into a UAE equivalent score and report that is familiar to the UAE lenders.

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How Does Foreign Credit Report Work?

Here’s how foreign credit reports work in the UAE -

  • AECB enables expatriates like you to improve your chances of getting your loan or credit card application approved by sharing your international credit report.
  • When you apply for a credit facility, you will be required to provide the lending institution with your foreign credit report so that they can review your creditworthiness.
  • This is where the AECB would request them to seek your permission to get access to your foreign credit report. The lending institutions will then send you an email, requesting your consent to gain access to your credit report.
  • Upon verification (using a seamless and secure process), the concerned lenders will receive your international credit report.
  • After receiving the credit report, they will use it to assess your credit application.

For more details related to foreign credit reports, let’s take a look at some frequently asked questions next.

Q1. Can you import your entire credit history into the UAE so that the credit providers can view your credit report?

Ans: You cannot permanently transfer your international credit history to the UAE. However, the AECB, in collaboration with Nova Credit, can share your international credit history with your consent in the UAE.

Q2. Does your international credit history affect your AECB credit score?

Ans: If a lender checks your international credit report in, say, Nigeria, it will result in a hard pull in your Nigerian credit report, which can impact your credit score there. In this case, it will have no impact on your Al Etihad Credit Bureau credit score.

Q3. How long does it take to access your foreign credit report from Nova Credit?

Ans: You will get an email from Nova Credit with instructions about downloading the credit report. You would need to do the same within 72 hours of receiving the mail.

Q4. How is your Nova Credit report used?

Ans: Your Nova Credit report is one of the many factors that the bank or the lending institutions take into account while reviewing your credit application. When you attach your foreign credit history, you provide an extra information source to strengthen your credit application.

Q5. Under what situations would Nova Credit not be able to find your international credit history or verify your identity?

Ans: Here are the circumstances under which Nova Credit will not be able to access your international credit history -

  • You have no credit history in your native country
  • Your credit history is insufficient to produce a proper credit report
  • Personal information is not accurate
  • You have not answered the verification questions accurately
Q6. How can you correct the incorrect data on your international credit report?

Ans: You will be required to connect with Nova Credit to dispute and research the details as early as possible. This is because inaccurate information can harm your credit score and even indicate fraudulent activity.

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