I applied for two credit cards (Westpac and BankSA) through their respective websites and about a week apart. I got instant approval for both. Now, looking at my credit report (creditsavvy) I find that there is only one credit inquiry and that is from St. George to the value equal to the sum of the 2 applications!
Can anyone comment what may have happened? I mean one would expect two inquiries.
Hey naritas,
When you say database administrators who are you referring too?
I have used creditsavy in the past to get an idea of where my credit rating is at but if I can get a free detailed copy from someone that would be awesome.
Hey knobbs :)
When you say database administrators who are you referring too?
I have used creditsavy in the past to get an idea of where my credit rating is at but if I can get a free detailed copy from someone that would be awesome.
We've listed below the major credit database administrators & links to get your file for free:
1. Veda provides a facility to get your credit file directly from them for free here.
2. Experian provides a form you fill out and email to them to get your credit file for free here.
3. The Consumer Action Legal Center gives tips on how to get your credit file for free directly from Dunn & Bradstreet here or you can register on the DnB website and follow the prompts using the page located here.
Hope this helps.
St George is part of the Westpac Group. BankSA was acquired by Advance Bank which was taken over by Westpac.
Their approach has been to assess you on the total liability you might have to the group should you accept both Offers of Credit.
Interesting…I have just ordered my free Veda report so will have to wait 10 days for it to appear. Will post update if anything different from Experian.
Advance bank was bought by st george.
Thanks naritas…sorry I didn't mention that the applications are more than a year old (but I got the report today!). So, from the 3 theories, the first and second are good. The credit inquiry was for the sum of the two applications tho (15k+15k=30k!)
It was 12 months ago, you got approved.
Does it really matter?
I'm just curious… nothing dramatic!
Three possible theories on what has happened here:
* Westpac group, which consists of St George, BankSA, Bank of Melbourne and Westpac (to name but a few brands), share Veda/Experian data throughout the group. As such, a single external check with Veda or Experian performed by St George fuels credit analysis for the other brands in the group.
* Your report may not be fully up-to-date and a second enquiry will be added in the coming days/weeks. Sometimes applications for credit take a while to appear on reports - especially some of the marketing based (free) services. In our experience, the paid checks and alert/monitoring based services have the most accurate data.
* One check may have been fielded to Experian (which is what Creditsavvy uses) and the other could have been fielded to Veda or DnB. As such, it could be a while before data permeates (if ever) between the databases.
NB: If you want to be very certain as to what is happening with your credit data (whilst not paying $$$ for subscriptions) it is best to intermittently get a free copy (yes, you are legally entitled to get it at no cost) of your credit file directly from all the database administrators . It is best to do this at least annually.
Hope this helps.