Brokers urged to boost credit reporting literacy for vulnerable clients

Given that a poor credit score can make or break a mortgage application, you’d expect the significance of credit reporting to be universally acknowledged.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. However, a growing movement within the broking industry is focused on raising awareness and enhancing education around the often-overlooked world of credit reporting.

Take Kerry Sainsbury (pictured), chief executive of Queensland-based credit repair and education business Credit Success.

Sainsbury was named in MPA’s Elite Women list for 2025 earlier this year, thanks to the work she does with brokers in improving their clients’ credit scores.

It pains Sainsbury to see the lack of awareness around credit reporting, especially because it can have a significant impact on vulnerable individuals.

Many of Credit Success’ clients have experienced situations of coercive control, domestic violence or messy divorce proceedings that have contributed to a bad credit score.

“When you're going through a divorce or you're going through DV, that's a really hard time in your life, and finances at that point are not going to be your priority,” Sainsbury told MPA.

Unfortunately this often leads to bad credit outcomes that can severely hinder vulnerable peoples’ chances of attaining financial security. 

Sainsbury gets a lot of satisfaction out of helping these people improve their credit score. She also supports the Safe Haven Community, a charity helping vulnerable women experiencing domestic and family violence.

But she wishes the negative consequences of bad credit scores were taken more seriously by the broking industry as a whole.

"Why aren't clients aware that they should be actually checking the report and the score themselves?" said Sainsbury. "If this is something so important in our industry, why are we not educating the clients to actually check their score regularly?"

“If we had more awareness and education on what's affecting your credit report, and if the client already knew what their score is before they went for finance, we would have fewer issues," she added.

Sainsbury would like to see industry associations like the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) and the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) play a bigger role in educating brokers on the importance of credit reporting.

She suggested that a mandatory credit reporting course could be a positive step, although awareness will require a united effort. "It's up to us to make a difference and to change things in the industry," said Sainsbury.

Discussing the matter with MPA, FBAA managing director Peter White said: “The FBAA is at the forefront of efforts to educate brokers with respect to credit reporting. The education we provide is done via a combination of webinars, dedicated segments within our CPD days and through our online learning centre."

But White agreed that there are knowledge gaps among some brokers when it comes to credit reporting that need to be addressed through stronger education.

“I also want to stress that it’s not just professional associations that need to step up – aggregators and lenders also have a role to play in this space," White added.

Common causes of bad credit scores

"I work with the broker really closely,” said Sainsbury of Credit Success’ process. “We speak to the broker and we discuss your needs. And then we work out what's the most cost-effective way to get that score up so then you can get a much lower interest rate."

Sainsbury typically begins with a free 20 to 30-minute consultation, during which she thoroughly reviews the client’s credit report.

She identifies any errors, negative listings, or financial habits that may impact the client’s credit score. She then provides tailored recommendations on how to protect and improve their score moving forward.

Working closely with both the client and their broker, she ensures that any actions taken are cost-effective and likely to result in long-term financial benefits, such as securing a lower interest rate.

Throughout her five years running Credit Success, Sainsbury has identified three particularly common causes of bad credit:

• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) schemes: Opening multiple BNPL accounts can significantly impact a credit score. “These buy now, pay later schemes actually want you to be late because then they collect a fee," Sainsbury said

• Unsecured finance and poor debt choices: Taking on unsecured finance and not understanding the difference between good debt and bad debt can negatively affect a credit report. The algorithms in credit reporting systems pick up on the types and amounts of finance, which can harm the score if not managed properly

• Frequent address changes: Frequently moving and opening new utility or financial accounts, rather than transferring existing ones, can result in additional credit inquiries, further lowering the credit score

Sainsbury is critical of lenders that perform unnecessary ‘hard checks’, which can also have a negative impact on your credit score. She would like to see hard checks done only at the unconditional offer phase, allowing borrowers to shop around more freely.

Sainsbury noted that soft checking, which doesn’t affect your score, but provides less information to the lender, has become more common in the asset finance space.

Looking back on Credit Success

Improving financial literacy is clearly one of Sainsbury’s life ambitions. It played a big part in her decision to launch Credit Success five years ago.

Sainsbury was already well known in the broking community thanks to her various business development management roles at the likes of Pepper Money and Prospa.

Looking back at the formation of Credit Success, “I was very fortunate because I already had the broker relationships”, Sainsbury said. “Relationships have always been my strength. I actually enjoy talking to people and I enjoy learning about people's lives.

“So for me, I didn't struggle when the business opened because I'd had 20 years of broker relationships.”

Sainsbury now hopes to leverage this industry clout to advance her mission of enhancing credit reporting literacy for borrowers and the wider broking community.