I have worked in collection (many years ago) but I never really thought about how credit works in other countries around the world, other than the United States.
I mean hear it is fairly simply. We have three main credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and when you apply for credit you give your basic information, job, income and your social security number. The SS# is the key. That is used to report your timeliness of payments to the three credit reporting agencies, and those reports are used by the lender to determain whether or not you qualify for credit, with that lender.
But how does it work in say Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Germany or anywhere else for that matter?
The key reporting number in the USA is your social security number. What about elsewhere?
Theres a national identification number given to everyone when they are born (or immigrate).
THis number is used in all government and most commercial transactions.