Credit Reference Agencies - Who uses who?

IMPORTANT NOTE: This table hasn't been fully updated since 2008. We are working on getting more up to date information, but banks are often reluctant to give this out. You can discuss this table with other MoneySavers in the chat forum.

There are three main credit reference agencies compiling info on us; Equifax, Experian and Callcredit. Apply for credit and lenders will ask one or two of them for information. As different agencies have different details, it's possible to increase your acceptability by picking a lender using the right agency, although remember this list can change regularly, call and check with a lender if you want to make a specific application.

The following table details which credit reference agency each lender uses. Utilising this takes some patience. If you've applied for credit with a lender and been turned down, it may be worth then choosing a lender working with a different agency. This won't always work, but it helps.

If you're a MoneySaving newbie, please only read this in conjunction with my ‘Your Credit Rating, How it works, How to beat it' article, which explains the system in its entirety. Also you can discuss this table with other MoneySavers in the chat forum.

Lenders and the Credit Reference Agencies Used

Lender	Credit Reference Agency used for credit searches
	Equifax	Experian	Callcredit
AA
Abbey
Alliance & Leicester
American Express
Bank of Ireland
Bank of Scotland
Barclaycard
Birmingham Midshires
Bristol and West
Britannia
Cahoot
Cambridge BS
Chelsea BS
Citibank
Co-op Bank
Direct Line
Egg
First Direct
Halifax
HSBC
ICICI
Intelligent Finance
Leeds BS
Liverpool Victoria
Lloyds TSB
Lombard Direct
Marks & Spencer
MBNA
Mint
Morgan Stanley
Nationwide
Natwest
Northern Rock
Portman BS
Post Office
Prudential
RBS
Sainsburys Bank
Scottish Widows
Skipton BS
Stroud + Swindon BS
Virgin
Yorkshire BS

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