The New Zealand credit score scale goes from zero to 1000. The higher your score, the less you should pay for loans.

The era of mass "credit rating" ignorance could be over after the launch of an online service letting people check their rating for free online without having to wait.

Every adult has a credit rating from one to 1000, which is used by the likes of banks and finance companies to decide on whether to give them a loan.

The average credit rating is 526, but a rating of 600 is good, and a rating of 720 or more is "fantastic".

SUPPLIED Credit Simple's chief executive David Scognamiglio says less than 10 per cent of people know their credit score.

But seven in 10 people have no idea they have a credit rating, and only eight in 100 actually know what theirs is.

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Credit agencies like Dun and Bradstreet have to provide people's credit files to them for free, but they have traditionally made people wait so they can charge fees for urgent inquiries.

Now Dun and Bradstreet has unveiled CreditSimple.co.nz, - a website giving people instant and free online access to their credit ratings.

And just to put your rating into perspective, the service tells you where you rank in your street, and how you rank compared to other people of your age.

Credit Simple's chief executive David Scognamiglio said: "Banks and credit providers use this information to determine how credit-worthy you are, so a healthy credit rating is 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."

CreditSimple makes its money from payments from lenders.

Each time time someone signs up to a deal promoted through Credit Simple, the lender pays a fee to the business.

So far The Warehouse, Co-op Bank and Baywide for Kiwis have signed up.

New Zealanders' ignorance of credit ratings is worse than other countries.

About 60 per cent of United States consumers don't know their credit rating, while 85 per cent of consumers in Australia don't know theirs.

"Banks love people with high credit ratings," Scognamiglio said.

"So if you've got a high credit rating, you'll be able to access great deals from our partners, such as banks, telcos and utility providers. If you've got a low rating, we'll help you figure out why and how to improve it."

People with credit ratings of 700 or over should be getting special deals like cheap mortgages, he said.

"The research also shows that Kiwis are hungry for better financial deals," he said.

"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. With Credit Simple, many of these people may be able to get a better deal than they realised," Scognamiglio said.

The research survey was done online and gathered over 1000 responses.

WOULD YOU CREDIT IT?

- 92 per cent of Kiwis don't know their credit rating

- 72 per cent don't know what a credit rating is

- Only 13 per cent have ever ordered their full credit file

- But when asked 84 per cent of people said they were "interested" to know theirs