How Name Change Affect Your CIBIL Score

The name of the borrower is indeed one of the most important pieces of information mentioned in their credit information report. The name helps lenders extract their credit scores and reports when they are processing the borrower’s loan application. Other details that are a part of the credit report, such as the borrower’s past loan and credit card repayment history are also typically extracted from past and current loan accounts and cards that have the name of the borrower on them. It is due to this reason that the borrower’s name must be spelt correctly across the board.

Changing your name has no effect on your credit history or CIBIL score. However, you must notify your lenders as soon as possible regarding any change in your name, including any change in the surname due to marriage or divorce. The banks will update your name in the relevant documents within a certain timeframe. When you notify your bank of a name or surname change, the bank also relays this information ahead to the credit bureaus. Thus, your records are updated automatically while your CIBIL score remains unchanged.

There can be multiple reasons you might want to change your name. Your name might change after a marriage or a divorce or there might be a spelling mistake in your documents that you wish to get corrected or there might be some other personal reason. Whatever the reason, it is very important to inform your banking partners about the change in your name.

While in most cases, once the name is updated in the records of your lenders, the same is also reflected in your CIBIL report automatically, it is always a good idea to also inform CIBIL about the name change.

• Your name is automatically updated in your CIBIL report some time after you notify your lenders

• It may take up to 30 days for your updated name to reflect on your CIBIL report

• You should regularly follow up with CIBIL to track the progress of your name change in case there is any delay

If your name has changed and you have not yet conveyed it to your banking partners, it can become misleading for the latter. There can also be a case of mistaken identity that might lead to CIBIL report alteration. In the worst case, you could be stuck with a different individual’s liabilities. This makes it even more necessary to ensure that you inform CIBIL and your banking partners as soon as possible.

After your name has been changed in the records of all the lenders, you should keep tabs on your CIBIL report until the change is reflected in it. Ideally, as discussed above, it is a good idea to also intimate CIBIL about the name change along with the lenders so that your request is processed faster.