Yahoo Finance Aussies get surprise boost to credit scores
The average Aussie now has a ‘very good’ credit score, new research has found.
Aussies improved their credit scores in 2022, despite the rising cost of living adding pressure to many household budgets.
Finder analysis of more than 50,000 credit reports found Aussies now had an average credit score of 735, an improvement from the previous year’s average of 711.
Nearly half of Aussies (46 per cent) now fall into the ‘very good’ category, based on Experian’s credit score system ranging from 0 to 1,000.
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“Despite coming out of lockdown and the rising cost of living, Aussies are keeping on top of their financial responsibilities,” Finder’s head of consumer research, Graham Cooke, said.
“If consumers can keep on top of credit as interest rates rise - whether it’s a credit card or home loan - they can protect their credit score further down the line.”
Despite this improvement, Finder found Aussies were checking their credit reports less frequently, dropping 18 per cent on average per month compared to the previous year. It also found a whopping 42 per cent of Aussies had never checked their score at all.
“Credit scores are a vitally important part of securing the best interest rate from a lender. It’s better to find out now if you have a problem with your credit score, rather than right when you need to access cash,” Cooke said.
Who has the best credit scores?
Canberra had the highest average credit score of all Australian cities, at 765, followed by Melbourne and Sydney, at 758 and 757 respectively.
On a suburb level, Main Ridge in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula took out the top spot with an average credit score of 955. This was followed by Kallista in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges, which had an average score of 948.
Baby Boomers had the highest average score at 846, followed by Gen X at 760. Gen Z beat out Millennials, with an average score of 741 compared to 713.
People with mortgages also generally had higher credit scores at 771, compared to people without at 682.
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