No credit history in the UAE: how new residents build a score

New residents start with no UAE credit history: your Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) report shows personal information only. The record then builds from what UAE providers report, such as phone and utility bills, cards and loans, and people with limited history may get a New-to-Credit Score of 300 to 650. In your first 3 years, some lenders can also see your credit history from any of 13 listed countries.

Key takeaways

• With no UAE credit facilities or services, your AECB report shows your personal information only.
• People with limited history may get a New-to-Credit Score of 300 to 650 and move to the Mature Score as their record grows.
• The bureau's Foreign Credit Report lets subscribing lenders see your credit history from 13 listed countries if you have lived in the UAE under 3 years.
• Phone and utility bills, cards and loans reported by UAE providers are what build your UAE record.
• In its answers on tenant scores, the bureau says a missing score does not necessarily indicate risk, but each lender decides under its own policy.

Is there a credit score in the UAE?

Yes. The Etihad Credit Bureau collects credit information directly from banks, finance companies, telecom operators, utility providers and other information providers under Federal Law No. 6 of 2010 on Credit Information, as amended in 2020. You do not need to submit any information yourself.

It scores individuals under Credit Score 3i, which the bureau says extends scoring to more people, including customers with limited credit history. The bureau approves nothing itself: lenders, telecom operators and utility providers use the report to make their own decisions. See what AECB scores mean for the numbers, or browse all our credit score guides.

What your report shows when you first arrive

Your personal details and nothing else, until a UAE provider reports a credit facility or service in your name. After that, the report lists your active and closed facilities and services.

A report with personal information only

Your report when you are new to the UAE

Personal information only

If you have no credit facilities or services, or are new to the UAE with no credit history, the credit report you receive from the Etihad Credit Bureau shows your personal information only.

A report bought at this stage still lets you confirm that your personal details are right before you apply for anything. How to check your AECB report explains the channels and prices, and how to read your AECB credit report walks through each section once it fills up.

Your first score: New-to-Credit

People with limited UAE credit history may receive a New-to-Credit Score instead of the Mature Score used for established borrowers.

New-to-Credit Score range

300 to 650

Under Credit Score 3i, customers with limited credit history may receive a New-to-Credit Score, which ranges from 300 to 650; the bureau labels this segment New-to-Credit Score/New-to-Country.

Three points from the bureau’s pages:

• It is a different model. The bureau says New-to-Credit and Mature scores come from different models and should not be compared on the number alone.
• It is a starting point. As enough history becomes available, you can be assessed under the Mature Score instead.
• A missing score does not necessarily mean risk. In its answers on tenant scores, the bureau says a missing score can reflect limited or recent credit activity and does not necessarily indicate risk.

Does your credit history from home count?

Not on your UAE report. It can count another way: if you have lived in the UAE for less than 3 years, a lender that subscribes to the bureau’s Foreign Credit Report can see your credit history from one of the listed countries as part of your application.

The bureau’s Foreign Credit Report

Foreign Credit Report

Under 3 years in the UAE

The Etihad Credit Bureau's Foreign Credit Report lets people who have lived in the UAE for less than 3 years have their credit history from another country shared, with their consent and through Nova Credit, with a UAE lender as part of a credit application; the lender decides how to use it.

The bureau’s page sets out three steps:

1. You apply for credit with a UAE lender.
2. You agree to share your data, consenting to the bureau accessing your foreign credit report through Nova Credit, its partner.
3. After verification and processing, the report is shared with your lender.

The limits matter as much as the steps. The service works only with lenders that subscribe to it, and the bureau calls the foreign report one of many inputs that each lender decides how to use. The foreign check is separate from any inquiry into your UAE history; a search in Brazil, Kenya, Mexico or Nigeria is a “hard” pull that may affect your score in that country. Disputes about the foreign report go to Nova Credit.

Which countries are covered

Countries in the Foreign Credit Report

13 countries

The bureau lists 13 countries whose credit reports can be provided to a UAE lender through its Foreign Credit Report: Australia, Austria, the Dominican Republic, Germany, India, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

The page heads the list “over 10 countries and growing” and says more countries will be added, so check it if your country is not listed here.

What about CIBIL and other home-country scores?

The bureau’s Foreign Credit Report page does not mention CIBIL. India is on the list, but the bureau does not name the credit bureau that supplies each country’s report, so nothing on its pages says a CIBIL score is used in the UAE, and your home-country score does not appear on your UAE report. Ask the lender whether it subscribes to the Foreign Credit Report and how it uses foreign data; the page gives no price for the service. Whether you can get a CIBIL report directly while living in the UAE is a question for that bureau, and this guide does not cover it.

Records that start a UAE credit history

Your UAE history starts with whatever UAE providers report about you. This section describes what gets reported, not what to take on.

Phone, internet and utility bills

Bills count as records. Your report includes your payment history with telecom operators and water and electricity providers, and those providers are among the organisations that use the report for their own decisions. Information providers send updated data to the bureau daily, except providers outside the banking sector, which send it monthly. The bureau does not say whether bill records alone are enough to produce a New-to-Credit Score.

A first credit card

The Central Bank’s eligibility rule for a credit card sets an income level, not a minimum credit history.

Minimum annual income for a credit card

AED 60,000 a year

Credit cards may be issued to people with an annual income of AED 60,000 or more; others can get a card only against a pledged deposit of at least AED 60,000.

Card and other credit against a deposit

50% of the deposit

A person below the AED 60,000 income floor who gets a credit card against a pledged deposit may also be given another credit facility, provided the card limit and that facility together do not exceed 50% of the pledged deposit.

A minimum salary for a particular card, a length of residence or an employer condition is set by the bank: the Central Bank’s credit card article sets only the income or deposit level. For detail, see the minimum salary for a credit card and credit cards without salary transfer; cards backed by a pledged deposit, often called secured credit cards, are a topic of their own.

Once you have a card, its limit appears on your report and counts in the bureau’s Income Utilisation Ratio (IUR) whether you use the card or not.

How the bureau counts card limits

5% of card limits

The bureau's Income Utilisation Ratio counts 5% of the credit limit of every active credit card as a monthly payment, alongside loan instalments and last month's telecom and utility dues, against your last reported income.

Worked example

A newcomer's first Income Utilisation Ratio

The salary, card limit and bills are illustrations. Assume your report shows a last reported salary of AED 12,000 a month, one new credit card with a limit of AED 10,000 that you have not used yet, last month’s phone and utility bills of AED 400, and no loans.

1. Card: 5% × AED 10,000 = AED 500.
2. Phone and utility bills: AED 400.
3. Loan instalments: AED 0.
4. Total monthly payments: AED 500 + AED 400 + AED 0 = AED 900.
5. IUR: AED 900 ÷ AED 12,000 = 0.075.

This newcomer’s IUR is 7.5%, and AED 500 of it comes from a card that has not been used.

The IUR is the bureau’s own measure. It is not the Central Bank’s 50% debt burden ratio, and the Central Bank text does not say how much of a card limit counts towards that cap, so ask each bank.

Joint accounts and guarantees

Both put your name on a UAE facility. A joint credit facility appears on the reports of both holders, and guarantor information appears against each facility, as Central Bank regulations require. The bureau does not say how either affects the score of someone with no other history. A guarantee makes you answerable for another person’s facility, so read its terms before you sign.

Buy now, pay later

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) contracts appear on your report, with their balance, status and remaining instalments, and organisations that review it may take them into account. Under the current model they do not affect the score. See how buy now, pay later shows on your report.

Habits that count from the first month

Five of the six score factors on the bureau’s Credit Score page turn on what you do from the first reported month:

• whether you pay every instalment and card bill on or before its due date (Payment Behaviour and Payment History);
• how much of your card limits you use (Credit Utilisation);
• whether the cheques you write are honoured (Cheque Behaviour);
• your recent activity in applying for new credit (Credit Application).

In its answers on tenant scores, the bureau says paying on time, keeping credit utilisation low and avoiding returned cheques can improve a score. It does not say how many applications for new credit count against you.

Monthly payment grid

Red = over 90 days late

Each facility on the report shows a 24-month colour grid: green for paid on or before the due date, yellow for paid up to 90 days late, red for paid more than 90 days late.

The bureau gives no timeline for when a first score appears. How to improve your AECB score covers these habits in depth.

Renting a home with little or no credit history

A landlord can ask for your UAE credit score, but only you can release it. Through the bureau’s Tenant Screening, a landlord, property manager or authorised broker pays AED 10.50 per request, and you approve or decline it through UAE PASS.

Tenant Screening

Tenant consent via UAE PASS

Through the bureau's Tenant Screening service, a landlord, property manager or authorised broker can request a prospective tenant's UAE credit score for AED 10.50, but the score is shared only after the tenant approves the request through UAE PASS, and the landlord receives the score only, not the credit report.

The landlord sees the score only, not your report. You can refuse, though the bureau says landlords may take a refusal into account, and it says a missing score does not necessarily indicate risk. The final decision stays with the landlord.

Applying for credit as a newcomer

Each lender decides under its own policy; the bureau plays no role in approval. Central Bank standards require the lender to verify your income and assess your creditworthiness, including by checking with the credit bureau, and the cap on repayments applies from your first loan.

Maximum debt burden ratio

50%

Monthly deductions for all loans and facilities from banks and finance companies together, including car loans, home loans, overdrafts and credit cards, must not exceed 50% of the borrower's gross salary and any regular income from a defined and specific source, at any time.

Where a lender has to assess whether a product is suitable or affordable for you, it must give you a summary copy of that assessment free of charge. Minimum salaries, residence periods and employer conditions are bank policy, so ask the bank, and ask whether it uses the Foreign Credit Report if you have a history abroad. For the full criteria, see personal loan eligibility.