There is another angle on this: If the credit rating agencies can't find you on the one or two databases they use, then no matter how good a real credit history you have they will decline to report - the result will be that you will be turned down by banks, etc. This will definitely be the case even when you have always paid your bills on time and especially if you have never had a loan for many years. Even having a credit card already and live at the same address since decades ago will mean nothing if you are not on the database. The absurd thing is that you are the type of person who, to a lender or credit card issuer, should represent the very lowest risk of all, yet because someone they rely on cannot tick the boxes they would rather offer their services to those who keep borrowing and have a long record on file. No thinking and/or objective assessment is entertained. No wonder they have lots of bad loans outstanding.