The RBI has granted license to establish 3 more credit rating agencies on the lines of CIBIL. Global credit rating provider Experian and Equifax along with a startup - Highmark have been granted licenses to operate in India.

These rating agencies will rate the credit worthiness of entities from Individuals, Firms, Companies etc. They are different from CRISIL and ICRA who have established themselves as brand names for rating corporate instruments.

For individuals requiring home / personal/ vehicle loans, credit cards, etc their credit history will be verified from any of the above mentioned 4 institutions before sanctioning of the amount. CIBIL is the current market leader in India with 135 million records. CIBIL is not at all consumer friendly as they don't entertain any request for credit report. RBI needs to look into this issue with urgency, in our opinion.

Experian and Equifax already operate in US and UK. It will be interesting to see if they are willing to transfer the credit history of Indians moving from US to India.