How to check your credit score for free in South Africa

On 14 Oct 2026 the National Credit Regulator's register listed 55 registered credit bureaus. They include TransUnion (NCRCB4), XDS (NCRCB5), Experian (NCRCB16) and VeriCred (NCRCB21). ClearScore is registered as a credit bureau too (NCRCB28). Several others specialise, for example the TPN Credit Bureau in tenant screening and the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service in fraud prevention.

The free report is a right at each bureau, so one bureau's free report does not use up your right at another. Each bureau keeps its own file, built from what lenders send it, which is why the reports and scores can differ. Check at least the bureaus your bank or lender names in its documents, and use the NCR register of credit bureaus to make sure a website really belongs to a registered bureau before you give it your ID number.

Besides the yearly report, the Act gives you two more free inspections: when a court or the National Consumer Tribunal orders it, and once after you successfully challenge information, so that you can see the correction. At other times the bureau may charge its inspection fee.

There is no single scale. Each bureau uses its own scoring model and range, so a number from one bureau cannot be compared with a number from another. If the bureau gives you a score, check which scale it uses before you compare it with anything.

The report you get must show the same information that other parties see when they ask for your report (regulation 20). So the report shows you what a lender sees: whether you pay on time, how much you owe, court judgments and how often you have applied for credit recently.

Regulation 17 of the National Credit Regulations sets the maximum time a bureau may show and use each type of information for credit scoring, counted from the date of the event:

Debt review stays on the record for the period set in section 71 of the Act or until a clearance certificate is issued.

Go through the report section by section:

• Personal details: name, ID number, addresses and employer. A wrong address or employer can point to someone else's records being mixed with yours.
• Accounts: every credit agreement with its balance, instalment and payment history. Check that you recognise each account and that settled accounts show as closed.
• Enquiries: who asked for your report in the last year. An enquiry from a lender you never approached is worth questioning.
• Judgments, administration orders and debt review: check the dates against the periods in the table above.

You have the right to challenge the accuracy of any information a bureau holds about you, and the bureau must investigate without charging you (National Credit Act, s 72(1)(c)).

1. Lodge the dispute with the bureau that shows the error. Say which entry is wrong and why, and attach proof, for example a paid-up letter from the lender.
2. Within 20 business days the bureau must either give you credible evidence that the information is correct or remove the information and every record of it (s 72(3) and regulation 20).
3. While the challenge is open, the bureau may not report the disputed information (s 72(5)).
4. If you disagree with the evidence you receive, you have 20 business days to take it to the National Credit Regulator as a complaint (s 72(4)).

If the wrong information came from a lender, the Act lets you claim from that lender the cost of correcting it (s 72(1)(d)). You do not need to pay anyone to fix a genuine error: the process is free.

• Pay every instalment on time. Your payment profile stays on the record for 5 years, so each month of on-time payments counts for a long while.
• Do not apply to many lenders at once. Each application can leave an enquiry, and enquiries stay visible for a year.
• Pay down balances on cards and overdrafts before you apply for a new loan.
• Check your report before you apply, so that you can dispute errors first.

A lender may not make you get your own credit report as part of a loan application (s 72(2)).

Whether you get a loan is the lender's decision, based on your report and your income. If a lender turns you down, you can ask it for the main reason, and it must answer in writing. If the decision was based on an adverse report, the lender must give you the name and contact details of the bureau (s 62). That tells you which report to check.

Before you apply, make sure the lender is registered with the NCR: look it up in the NCR register of credit providers. To compare loan amounts and, where lenders publish them, terms and rates from their own sites, see online loans.