Comparing Credit Reports in Malaysia: Experian Credit Report vs CTOS Credit Report

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I’ve always wondered what’s the difference between different credit reports in Malaysia, so I got both Experian credit report and CTOS credit report. This post compares PAID credit reports from Experian (aka mycreditinfo.com.my) and CTOS (ctoscredit.com.my) bought on the same day.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored article, I am not paid to write about Experian or CTOS reports. I paid for both credit reports out of my own pocket.

The format of this article is:

What is on a Credit Report
My Credit Report from Experian
My Credit Report from CTOS
Experian vs CTOS: Which Credit Report is Better?
How about credit report from Credit Bureau?
Where to get FREE credit report in Malaysia
Why my Experian / CTOS report have no score?
Should you get free or paid credit report?

All information is accurate as of writing time, but may change without notice. Let’s start:

What is on a Credit Report

The Experian credit report contains:

Experian i-SCORE (Credit Score)
Banking Information (CCRIS)
Skim Potongan Gaji Angkasa (SPGA)
PTPTN
Trade References (Non-Banking Info)
Litigation History and more.

While CTOS credit report contains:

Personal Information (NRD)
Directorship & Business Interest (SSM)
Litigation & Bankruptcy
Trade Referee Listings (eTR)
2 Free MyCTOS Basic Reports a year
CTOS Score
CCRIS Records (BNM)
Access to Rewards

*All information taken from Experian and CTOS websites

From here, I can see that both Experian credit report and CTOS credit report contain more or less the same things, but worded differently.

For example, both Experian credit report and CTOS credit report contain CCRIS data*, but Experian calls it ‘Banking Information (CCRIS)’ while CTOS calls it ‘CCRIS Records (BNM)’.

I also have a feeling, but can’t confirm, that ‘Trade References (Non-Banking Info)’ and ‘Trade Referee Listings (eTR) are both the same things too.

(*By the way, you can get CCRIS data/ record for free from https://eccris.bnm.gov.my/ – see FREE credit report in Malaysia section below)

But anyway, let’s compare the two

My Credit Report from Experian

This is my result from Experian Personal Credit Report Plus (PCRP), the paid credit report from Experian Credit & Information Services, formerly known as RAM Credit Information (RAMCI).

The 5-page report contains:

Personal information
Credit score – My Experian credit score was 640, which is considered Good (but not Strong)
Banking credit information – All my credit cards and loans listed
Shareholding/ Directorship and business interests – Only 1 – my own company
Legal action – No info
Bankruptcy Action – No info
Non-bank lender credit information (NLCI) – No info
Trade Bureau/ Credit reference (CR) – No info
Enquiries made on you – 1

How much does Experian credit report cost?

Experian Personal Credit Report Plus (PCRP), the Experian credit report costs RM19.50.

My Credit Report from CTOS

This is my result from MyCTOS Score Report, the paid credit report from MyCTOS.

The 4-page report contains:

Snapshot – My ID verification
Credit Info at a Glance – Summary of credit info information
CTOS Score – My CTOS credit score was 760, which is Excellent
Top 5 Directorship & Business Interest – None listed
Directorships and Business Interests – Interestingly my company was not listed
Address records
Banking Payment Records – All my credit cards and loans listed
CCRIS Derivatives
Legal cases (subject as defendent); (subject as plaintiff); (non personal capacity) – No info
Trade reference – No info

How much does CTOS cost?

MyCTOS Score Report, the CTOS credit report costs RM24.85.

Experian vs CTOS: Which Credit Report in Malaysia is Better?

Both are good, reputable credit score check companies, but if I have to choose which one is better..

Accuracy: AFAIK, data from both reports is mostly accurate – the same financial data was reported. CTOS report missed out my company though
Credit scoring: Even though my credit score from Experian and CTOS reports are different (640 vs 760), I believe both are accurate. Perhaps they use different parameters and Experian is stricter.
Price: Experian is cheaper
Security: Both are good, but Experian was slightly more annoying (not a bad thing. If it’s hard for me, it’s hard for scammers)
Design: CTOS has better data visualisation and presentation
Speed: Both Experian and CTOS sent credit reports immediately to my email
Special features worth mentioning:

Experian Personal Credit Report Plus (PCRP) has an additional Enquiries Made On You section. Apparently some Finance Banking person enquired about me on 17 May 2022. Who or why, I wouldn’t know. But they should know I know, ykwim?

On the other hand, CTOS has a Rewards section. It’s just some financing options that you can also probably access outside of CTOS, but worth mentioning.

How about credit report from Credit Bureau?

There is one more credit reporting agency that is not included here: Credit Bureau Malaysia. Unfortunately, the Credit Report page is under maintenance at writing time, so I am unable to get Credit Bureau report.

Are there more credit reporting agencies in Malaysia? Nope, just those three: CTOS, Credit Bureau Malaysia and Experian.

According to BNM,

CTOS/Credit Bureau Malaysia/Experian are credit reporting agencies registered by the Ministry of Finance under the Credit Reporting Agencies Act 2010.

These three credit reporting agencies have approval to access the CCRIS system to provide private credit reports to their users, which may include more information than CCRIS.

Where to get FREE credit reports in Malaysia

Both CTOS and Experian offer free credit reports in Malaysia. It’s not as comprehensive their paid versions, but enough if you just want to see a snippet of your financial background.

The links to the free credit reports in Malaysia are:

Experian: Personal Credit Report Basic (no score, no CCRIS)
CTOS: MyCTOS Basic Report (no score, no CCRIS)

The no CCRIS part is actually not a big deal. Again, remember you can get CCRIS record for free from https://eccris.bnm.gov.my/, or from CCRIS kiosks at AKPK premises. Learn more about CCRIS here.

Should you get free or paid credit report?

For most people, the free credit reports PLUS check CCRIS yourself is good enough. Only get the paid versions if:

You want to know your credit score number (hard to improve it if you don’t know the number)
You plan to purchase property in the next 6 months and want to know if your loan application will go through. No point submit loan application if your credit score is too low, it’ll just get rejected
You want to know if anyone took a loan/financing under your name from credit institutions that do not participate in CCRIS*

*CCRIS (Central Credit Reference Information System), which is owned and operated by BNM to facilitate credit risk management among banks, only records participating financial institutions.

If any of the above is important to you, then get the paid version, it’s worth the RM15-25 price.

Why my Experian / CTOS have no score?

Some of you might get credit reports from Experian / CTOS with no score. There is no data that can be used to formulate one’s credit score, therefore they have no idea if you are a good borrower or not.

Simply put, someone with No Score:

Do not have credit card
Have not bought car (hire purchase) nor house (mortgage) under their name
Do not have loans, including personal loans or PTPTN

If you don’t plan to apply for any financing in the future, then No Score doesn’t matter, go ahead with your life.

BUT if you aspire to be a homeowner, or would like the option to apply for SME financing for your future business, then you should probably build your credit history from now.

Final note

Like mentioned in the Disclaimer section in the beginning of this article, this is not a sponsored article.

However, I have had working and paid opportunities with both companies in the past, including a sponsored post on CTOS credit scoring system and a webinar talk with Experian (video embedded below). That does not affect my review of both platforms.

How about you? Have you gotten paid CTOS credit report and/or Experian credit report? Was your credit score in CTOS higher than Experian, like mine? Or yours was more similar? Insights welcome in the comments section 🙂

Watch: Ringgit Dijaga, Keluarga Bahagia. My presentation is titled ‘Cara Berbincang Kewangan dengan Pasangan (Tanpa Bergaduh)’. My slot at 50 minutes in