Your credit score in Singapore is a four-digit number from Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) that runs from 1,000 to 2,000, with a risk grade from AA (lowest risk) to HH (highest). Banks use it, alongside your income, when you apply for a credit card or loan. Paying on time and not applying for too much credit at once are the two habits that matter most.
This guide explains how the score is built, how to get your report and what it costs, and where the separate Moneylenders Credit Bureau fits in. Facts are from MoneySense, the Ministry of Law, MAS’s card regulations and the banks’ own pages, as at November 2026.
The short version: Banks see your repayment record across lenders. Late payments and many recent applications pull the score down; a long record of on-time payments lifts it. Check your report once a year, and dispute anything wrong with the bureau.
What Your Credit Score in Singapore Is
A credit bureau collects your credit history from its members, such as banks and card issuers, and sells reports to lenders. MoneySense says Credit Bureau (Singapore) is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Credit Bureau Act 2016.
The score itself is described on the banks’ own explainers. DBS says your credit behaviour is “aggregated into a score between 1,000 and 2,000”: at 1,000 you are rated HH, the highest risk of default, and at 2,000 you get the best rating, AA. HSBC adds that CBS assigns a risk grade from AA to HH alongside the score and refreshes it whenever new data arrives.
The grade boundaries are set by CBS. Its website was not reachable from outside Singapore when we checked, so see the CBS site, or the explanation printed on your own report, for the exact score bands.
The score is not the whole decision. MoneySense says banks look at the score “alongside other considerations such as income”, and MAS’s card regulations require card issuers to check with a licensed credit bureau before issuing a card or raising a limit.
What Affects Your Credit Score
MoneySense lists six factors:
- Utilisation pattern: how much of your available credit you use.
- Available credit: how many open accounts give you credit.
- Account delinquency: late payments on your loans and cards.
- Credit account history: a long record of prompt payment counts in your favour.
- Enquiry activity: lenders’ checks when you apply. Your own checks do not count.
- Recent credit: several new facilities in a short time can look like overextending.
CBS does not publish how much weight each factor carries.
How Long Records Stay on Your Report
These periods come from the banks’ and MoneySense’s explanations of CBS’s practice.
| Record | How long it affects your report | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Account repayment history (for the score) | Rolling 12 months | DBS |
| Enquiries by lenders when you apply | 2 years | DBS |
| Default marked negotiated or fully settled | 3 years | DBS |
| Default outstanding, partly paid or sold off | Indefinitely | DBS |
| Bankruptcy record | 5 years after discharge | DBS |
| Debt Consolidation Plan, last 12 months’ payment status | 3 years after the account closes | MoneySense |
Illustration only. A borrower misses two card payments in March and pays on time from April. On DBS’s description of the 12-month window, those missed payments stop counting towards the score after a year of on-time payment. A default that is never settled, by contrast, stays on the report.
How to Get Your Credit Report and What It Costs
You can buy your report from CBS online or in person. HSBC’s explainer also mentions requesting one at a SingPost branch. CBS sets the fee, and you can see the current price on its website.
There is a free route. UOB’s credit card FAQ says you can get a complimentary CBS report within 30 calendar days of a credit application being approved or rejected, through the CBS website or by bringing the approval or rejection letter or SMS and your NRIC to the CBS office.
If you are overseas, CBS’s own notice says access to its website is restricted outside Singapore. You can email CBS’s consumer services team with identity documents and a photo of yourself holding your ID, and processing can take up to five business days.
If you spot an error, MoneySense says to write to the bureau. CBS will pass it to the lender that supplied the data, mark the item as disputed while it is investigated, tell you the outcome and send any corrected report to members that checked on you in the past 12 months.
The Moneylenders Credit Bureau
Loans from licensed moneylenders are tracked separately. The Ministry of Law launched the Moneylenders Credit Bureau (MLCB) on 1 March 2016 as a central record of borrowers’ loans and repayments with licensed moneylenders. Every licensed moneylender reports to it, and both lenders and borrowers can buy MLCB reports. Check the MLCB’s own website for the current fee. Our guide to licensed moneylenders explains how those loans work.
How Payment Problems Reach Your Score, and How to Rebuild
Late payment is the fastest way to lower your score. MoneySense says that if you miss the minimum card payment for two consecutive months, you cannot get new unsecured credit, your overdue credit lines are suspended and your scores with the bureaus can be affected. Our guide to how credit card interest works shows what missing the minimum costs in fees and interest.
MoneySense’s tips for rebuilding include paying in full and on time, paying by GIRO so bills are never missed, holding fewer credit accounts and not taking several loans in a short time. If you cannot get an unsecured card, it suggests a secured card, backed by a fixed deposit, to build a repayment record. Our guide to credit card minimum income covers secured cards and the borrowing limits banks must apply.
What To Do Next
- Get your CBS report once a year, or use the free report after your next credit application.
- Check every account and amount on it. Dispute errors in writing with the bureau.
- Pay at least the minimum on time, every time; ideally pay in full by GIRO.
- If you are carrying balances, plan a payoff with the debt payoff calculator and compare a balance transfer against your card’s interest rate.
- Space out applications for new cards. When you do compare cards, start from our best credit cards in Singapore page.
