Guides · Credit score
Why is my Equifax score different from my CIBIL score?
In short
Because they are two different companies scoring two slightly different files: India has four RBI-licensed credit bureaus, each lender reports to them on its own cycle, and each bureau runs its own model on the 300–900 scale. A gap of a few dozen points is normal; a gap of a hundred or more usually means an account is missing or mis-reported at one bureau, and that you can dispute.
Updated 7 September 2026 · by Finsa, a Lending Service Provider — not a lender.
Four bureaus, one you
TransUnion CIBIL, Equifax, Experian and CRIF High Mark are the four credit information companies licensed by the Reserve Bank of India under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005. Lenders are required to be members of all four and to report your accounts to them, but they report on their own monthly cycles, so a new loan, a closure or a correction reaches one bureau before it reaches the others.
Each bureau then scores its own copy of your file with its own model. The models weigh the same things — repayment history, how much of your limits you use, the age and mix of accounts, recent enquiries — but not identically, so even two perfect copies of the same file would not produce the same number.
Why the numbers differ
Four causes account for almost every gap.
- Timing — one bureau has this month's data, another has last month's.
- Model — the same file scored by different formulas.
- Enquiries — a hard enquiry is recorded only at the bureau the lender pulled from, so applications show up unevenly.
- Data errors — an account mapped to the wrong person, a closed loan still showing open, an old address holding a duplicate file. This is the cause that matters, because it is the one you can fix.
How big a gap is normal
A rule of thumb, not a regulation:
| Under about 50 points | Normal. Timing and model differences; nothing to do. |
|---|---|
| 50 to 100 points | Pull both full reports and compare account by account; one probably has something the other does not. |
| More than 100 points | Almost always a data error at one bureau. Find the account that differs and dispute it there. |
Which score does a lender use?
Whichever bureau — or bureaus — it subscribes to, and you cannot choose for it. Many lenders pull more than one. That is why the useful habit is not to chase one number but to keep all four files clean: a mistake at any bureau can meet you at any lender.
You are entitled to one free full credit report, including the score, from each of the four bureaus every calendar year. RBI required it in September 2016 and it has applied since January 2017; each bureau's website has the request page.
Where Finsa stands
Finsa shows your Equifax report, one of the four, refreshable monthly. Checking your report through Finsa is a soft enquiry, which only you can see and which does not affect your score. Finsa is not a lender: it reads your report with your consent and puts your profile in front of RBI-regulated banks and NBFCs, who decide eligibility, rate and approval. If your Equifax number and a lender's CIBIL number disagree, the fix is the same one described above: find the account that differs, and dispute it at the bureau that has it wrong.
People also ask
- Is CIBIL more important than Equifax?
- No. Each is one of four RBI-licensed bureaus, and a lender uses whichever it subscribes to. CIBIL is the oldest and most widely quoted, which is why people assume it is the official score; there is no official score.
- Can I get my CIBIL score free?
- Yes. Under RBI's 2016 direction every bureau must give you one free full credit report with score each calendar year, on request. Finsa gives you your Equifax report free and refreshable monthly.
- Will a low score at one bureau block loans everywhere?
- Only at lenders that pull that bureau. But since you do not know which one a lender will pull, fix the error at the bureau where it sits rather than hoping the lender looks elsewhere.
Sources
Your score out of 900, and what is actually dragging it down.
Two minutes, a soft check that never touches your score. RBI-regulated banks & NBFCs send the offers; you pick.
Indicative starting rate. Your actual rate, fees and eligibility are set by the lending partner based on your credit profile.