Wealth and suburb not defining factors in credit score

A VedaScore is a credit rating between 0-1,200 that lenders can look at when deciding whether to accept your application for a loan or credit, and the best in NSW weren’t actually found in the affluent inner city.

Rural areas of the Blue Mountains (VedaScore: 791) and the Hawkesbury (788) came in with significantly higher VedaScores than those of Sydney's Inner City (738) harbourside suburbs of Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay and Rushcutters Bay.

The NSW Central Coast also scored better than the inner city, Newcastle (765) and Gosford (772) both scored surprisingly higher than the more wealth suburbs.

Victoria saw a similar story, the rural area of Barwon West (797), west of Geelong, had a better score than Melbourne’s inner city café scene of Carlton and South Yarra (739).

“These results demonstrate that your credit score is all about your personal situation, not your property location. While there are many things that go into a score, you can control how you manage it – it doesn't matter if you’re in the Darling Downs or Darlinghurst,” Luke Keller, CEO of getcreditscore.com.au said.

The scores also showed that older Australians in some areas were significantly better at managing their finances than their younger counterparts, the Gen Y men of Caboolture Hinterland in regional had the lowest score of 617, while men in the same region aged 65 and over had a score of 862.

“The research underlined that Australia’s next generation of Australians could take a lesson or two from their older counterparts on how to successfully manage their finances and maintain a strong credit score. It also showed that with some of Australia’s wealthiest suburbs on the lower end of the ratings, this wealth may not be all that it seems,” said Mr Keller.