How good is your credit rating?

Consumers who find out their credit score could used it to help negotiate a better rate on their credit card. Photo/Getty Images.

A new online service is promising to provide Kiwis with a quick and free way to find out their credit score and use it to get better deals when borrowing money.

Credit Simple has been launched by credit agency Dun & Bradstreet.

Users enter in their personal details online and find out their credit score within minutes without having to pay for the information.

The score is a number between zero and 1000 which indicates how likely you are to pay bills - the closer to 1000 you are the better the score but anything over 500 is considered to be good.

Consumers can then use their score to negotiate with lenders to get a better rate.

The website also offer deals from banks, credit cards and other lenders as well as providing tips for how people can improve their score.

Credit Simple earns money through collecting a fee when people sign up for the deals on offer.

Credit Simple CEO David Scognamiglio said a healthy credit score was vital to having credit applications approved.

"It's only fair that Kiwis can access this information as well, and use it to their advantage to ask for a better deal."

Research undertaken on behalf of Credit Simple found New Zealanders' awareness of credit ratings was low with only 13 per cent of those questioned having ordered their credit file although 84 per cent said they wanted to know what their score was.

Just 15 per cent had used their good credit score to ask for a better deal.

But Scognamiglio said the research showed people were prepared to shop around.

"Forty-two per cent have a loan with a bank or other financial institution, and of those, 59 per cent would consider switching banks to get a better interest rate.

"Meanwhile, 45 per cent of all those surveyed are considering getting a new loan or credit card."