Why your UAE Credit score is important
- Kacper Duda
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
A lot of expats demonstrate familiarity with how credit scores work in their home countries. Yet, it's a topic that's widely neglected once you live abroad - wrongly so.
Your credit report can have significant impacts on your life in the UAE. Read on to find out:
3 reasons why you should check your credit score today
How to check your credit score and what to look for
In the news: How to get price drop alerts on your summer flights
3 reasons why you should check your credit score
Understand your ability to get credit - Without knowing your credit score, you won't know how likely you are to get approved for credit cards, loans and, potentially most importantly, mortgages.
Spot any fraudulent activity - Your credit report contains details of all your financial products. You should always recognise all financial products and details on there. If you don't, you may have been a victim of identity theft.
See what you need to improve - There will be various metrics such as your score, your expense-to-salary ratio and payments history in your report that you should always try to keep healthy.
How do credit scores work in the UAE?
All credit scoring in the UAE is centralised and run by the Etihad Credit Bureau, with the aim of assessing your creditworthiness. The score is calculated based on your financial history and aims to predict how well you can handle new credit obligations.
Your Credit Report contains up to 3 years of historical data on your financial obligations, debts, and salaries. Your financial obligations can be any form of credit, whether a mortgage, loan or even your telecoms accounts.
So what is a good score?
Your credit score is a number between 300-900. Anything above 680 is considered a good credit score, and if you can hit 731, it's considered excellent. The full categories are below:
731 and above - Excellent Credit Score
680 to 730 - Good Credit Score
620 to 679 - Fair Credit Score
300 to 619 - Bad Credit Score
Where can I check mine?
There are two types of checks you can run directly through the Etihad Credit Bureau:
Full score & credit report for a fee of AED 84
Score only (without the report details), at a cost of AED 10.50
If this is the first you are checking your credit score in the UAE, we recommend you opt for the full report to better understand the details included.
Both services are available through their online portal, the TAMM app or the Etihad Credit Bureau app and are fully integrated with the UAE Pass, so logging in should be easy.
What to look for in your credit report.
Your credit report contains details about the following. You should always make sure you recognise all the data, and that it is correct.
Key metrics: credit score and your expense-to-salary ratio. This is used by financial institutions to assess your creditworthiness.
Personal information: your name and ID details, address and contact details.
Salaries: information about your employer(s) and how much you've been paid each month.
Credit facilities: For each financial liability, you'll be able to see your balances, payment history and utilisation levels each month. This covers your loans and credit cards but also telecoms and utilities providers.
If you believe some of the data is not accurate, you should contact the Etihad Credit Bureau, who will provide further advice on how to get the data corrected.
IN THE NEWS: How to get price drop alerts on your summer flights
A new tool for your savings toolbox has arrived. You can now check which flights from your nearby airport have dropped in price by more than 20% compared to last week. That's particularly helpful for our expat lives, which are more travel-dominated than normal.
Skyscanner has launched this as a new service called DROPS (currently only available through their phone app). You can read more about it in this TimeOut Dubai article.
Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that this email does not constitute financial advice. Any choices you make you are solely responsible for. We always aim to provide highest quality, independent views but do your own research to ensure you’re comfortable with any changes you make to your personal finances.
