Australia's decision to allow financiers greater access to people's credit histories has given the finance industry hope New Zealand will do the same.
The Australian Government has accepted many of the recommendations of an Australian Law Reform Commission report into privacy - including that the country move to what is known as positive credit reporting.
New Zealand and Australia are unusual among OECD countries in retaining negative credit reporting systems.
This means credit agencies can only keep limited data on a person, including "negative" aspects such as whether they have defaulted on bills or been bankrupted.
Credit reports show how many times a person has applied for credit, but not what for or whether it was approved.
A positive system would allow the agencies to keep more comprehensive records, such as mortgage and credit card details and repayment histories.
The finance industry argues this would help it make better lending decisions, refusing credit to those who are overstretched and giving a second chance to people who have run into trouble in the past.
The Privacy Commissioner is conducting a review of New Zealand's credit reporting privacy code, and had been waiting to see which way the Australians would go.
"The Australian situation will influence the sort of decisions we take in New Zealand," Commissioner Marie Shroff told a New Zealand Credit and Finance Institute conference last week.
"We are mindful of continuing the alignment that currently exists where that will be useful."
Australia is looking at adding four new pieces of information to personal credit files. -
• The type of each current credit account (mortgage, credit card, personal loan, etc).
• The date each account was opened.
• The limit of each account.
• The date each account was closed.
This is broadly in line with what the New Zealand credit reporting and finance industry is calling for.
In reference group discussions held by the Privacy Commissioner as part of her review there was general agreement credit reports should list the type of credit and amount approved, the lending institution, whether the account was open or closed and relevant dates, and the repayment history over two years.
Credit and Finance Institute national president David Young said any move Australia made in this regard "points us in the right direction".
It was likely New Zealand would follow suit.
"The main users of such information are of course the banks, and who owns them?"
The credit agencies have been lobbying for some time for a shift to comprehensive reporting.
In August, Veda Advantage launched a new points system giving all New Zealanders a creditworthiness score.
The range is from minus 330 to plus 1000, and most people are expected to rate over zero.
However, those with a score less than 100 will find it difficult to obtain credit.
The points system is based on existing credit records, and Veda's local head John Roberts has said it would become more relevant if New Zealand moved to positive reporting.
