You have a statutory right to see your record free — more often than most people realise. Where to get it, and what to do when something on it is wrong.
Section 72 of the National Credit Act gives every South African the right to inspect their credit bureau file free of charge. There are three separate free triggers, and most people only know about the first:
Two more protections worth knowing. The report you receive must show the same information shown to anyone else — a bureau may not hand consumers a cut-down version. And a credit provider may not require or induce you to pull your own bureau report in connection with a credit application or affordability assessment. If a lender tells you to go fetch your own report for their application, that is not permitted.
First, a correction to something repeated constantly online: South Africa does not have “four credit bureaus”. The NCR’s Register of Registrants listed 55 registered credit bureaus when we checked it in August 2026. Most are specialist. And Compuscan no longer exists as a separate bureau — it was acquired by Experian, so any guide still sending you to Compuscan is out of date.
These are the consumer-facing options we could verify directly:
| Bureau | NCR reg. | Consumer access |
|---|---|---|
| Experian South Africa | NCRCB16 | Free, unlimited access to your report and score on its consumer platform |
| ClearScore | NCRCB28 | Free; presents Experian data on its own 0–740 scale |
| XDS (via Splendi) | NCRCB5 | Free access to your report |
| Consumer Profile Bureau | NCRCB2 | Free via its consumer report site |
| VeriCred / VCCB | NCRCB21 | Free, up to twice per calendar month |
Verified August 2026 against each bureau’s own site and the NCR register. We were unable to independently verify TransUnion’s current consumer pricing or what its free report includes — its site blocked our checks — so we’ve deliberately left it out rather than publish something unconfirmed. Check with TransUnion directly.
You can challenge the accuracy of any information, and it costs nothing. Once you lodge a challenge:
You may also be entitled to be compensated for the cost of correcting information by whoever reported it incorrectly.
If you’re following older advice to escalate to the “Credit Ombud”, note that it no longer exists as a standalone scheme — it was absorbed into the National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa, which began operating on 1 March 2024. The service is free to complainants.
You have a statutory right to inspect your bureau file free once in any twelve-month period, and several bureaus go further — Experian and ClearScore, for instance, provide free ongoing access to your report and score. See the table above.
At minimum one in any rolling twelve-month period, as of right. You also get a free report when a court or the Tribunal orders one, and again after successfully challenging information so you can confirm the correction.
No. Checking your own record is treated differently from a lender’s enquiry, and Experian South Africa states explicitly that it does not penalise you for it.
20 business days to investigate and act on a challenge. It may not report the disputed information while the challenge is unresolved, and you can escalate to the NCR within 20 business days of getting its evidence.
Far more than the “four” usually quoted — the NCR register listed 55 registered bureaus in August 2026, though only a handful are consumer-facing. Compuscan is no longer among them; Experian acquired it.
Next steps
Understanding your credit record is step one. Step two is putting a facility on it that reports good conduct every month.
Your legal right, which bureaus give free access, and how to dispute an error.
See your rights →Ranked from most accessible to strictest, with the reasoning.
See the ranking →Realistic options, and no guaranteed-approval promises.
Read the guide →