What is CRIF: Its Importance and How to Improve CRIF Score

What is CRIF’s full form?

The Center for Research in International Finance is the full form of CRIF, a credit rating agency established in 2007. Based in Mumbai, this is one of the biggest credit rating agencies in India out of the seven credit ratings present in India.

What is CRIF?

CRIF is an entity that was based in Europe and India, primarily where INDIA, RBI provided the license to operate in 2010. 

In 2014, CRIF acquired the major stake of the High Mark company, and the same came to be known as CRIF’s high mark after that. CRIF High Mark does the credit rating for individuals, companies, and entities. They are mainly in Commercial, Retail, Agri, and Microfinance portfolios.

What is Highmark Credit Score?

As per all the credit rating agencies, even CRIF high mark score ranges from 300-900 where the scores are divided into 300-500 which is termed as a low score, while the 500-650 which is medium, 650-750 which is good and 750-900 which is excellent. 

Where above 650 up to 900, the score means that the person has excellent financial credibility and lower risk while a lower score means that the person has low financial credibility and higher risk. 

These Highmark credit scores are calculated based on various aspects such as 

• The number of times one person has applied for a loan
• The existing outstanding debt of the person
• The repayment history of the person
• The debt-to-income ratio
• Credit utilisation ratio
• Credit mix

These scores are beneficial for the following purposes –

• Applying for loan
• For visa purposes
• For microfinance
• For Commercial score 
• For Anti-Fraud Services 
• For Analytics and Scorecard 
• For cheaper interest rates

What information is required to Download a CRIF Credit Report?

When downloading a CRIF credit report, you need to furnish the following details. Feeding these details is essential to generate a credit report.

• Complete name
• Documents such as PAN card, Voter ID, Driving Licence, Passport or Ration card
• Document number
• Email ID
• Mobile number

What Factors Affect My CRIF Credit Score?

Factors that affect your CRIF High Mark credit score include the following:

• Debt-to-income ratio
• Repayment history
• Length of credit history
• Loan applications 
• Types of accounts included in your credit portfolio
• Credit utilisation ratio
• Outstanding credit balances

How to apply for this CRIF score?

Visit the CRIF Portal cir.crifhighmark.com

You will see a “Get Your Score Now” button. Click on it.

Step 1 – One needs to fill in their initial details such as KYC, and address proof. Register your email id. Then you have to fill out a form that has the details of your full name, date of birth, mobile number, address, etc. 

Step 2 – Select the type of report you want such as,

Free credit report – As per the government regulation, a person or entity is allowed to view and get a single annual report in a year by any credit rating agency.

Paid credit report – If you want multiple reports in a year, one has to get a paid subscription plan which is available for 1 year, 6 months, or one time. This is mostly used by people who want to increase their scores. 

Step 3 – Once you complete the procedure, you need to provide the other aspects of the report which can be linked to a credit card, a number of accounts, etc after which you will be provided with the report. 

How to Improve Your CRIF Score?

You can take the following steps to improve your CRIF score:

• Punctual Payments: Ensure timely payments of bills to establish a good payment history.
• Minimize Credit Card Balances: Consider reducing your credit card balance to improve your credit utilisation ratio.
• Avoid Closing Previous Accounts: Maintaining old accounts elongates your credit history, helping you build a better score.
• Review Your Credit Report: Checking your credit report regularly can help you identify errors and raise discrepancies before they affect your credit score.
• Restrict Credit Applications: Apply for credit only when absolutely necessary, as multiple applications can negatively impact your score.

CRIF Complaint Portal

To file a complaint one needs to have a reference number that is mentioned in the report provided to you by CRIF which also contains one’s score. The reference number will be in the form of Ref #: in the report placed on the top right corner.

With this reference number, one can lodge a complaint to either crifcare@crifhighmark.com or call them at the number 020 67157709/42/71/79/80), also while filing the complaint, keep these details handy, such as serial number, account information and one’s KYC details

After lodging a complaint, one will receive a ticket number as the reference for the complaint which will be resolved within 30 days of receipt. 

One can understand the outcome of the complaint and if agreed, CRIF will close the ticket number and mark the complaint as resolved.