Etihad Credit Bureau Extends Credit Assessment Window to 36 Months With Credit Score 3i

Etihad Credit Bureau has introduced a credit scoring model called Credit Score 3i, which lengthens the period used to judge a borrower's repayment record and brings people with little or no credit history into the scoring system. The launch was announced on 30 October 2026.

The bureau is the UAE federal entity that holds credit information and runs data-driven analytics on it. It sits between lenders and borrowers, compiling repayment records and converting them into a score a bank can read quickly.

Credit Score 3i replaces a 24-month assessment window with a 36-month one. Across that longer stretch the model examines an individual's financial obligations and how they have been met, so events that would have dropped out of view after two years stay visible for an extra twelve months. The stated aim is a fuller picture of credit behaviour and better support for lenders' own risk assessments.

H.E. Marwan Ahmad Lutfi, the bureau's Director General, said the UAE is continuing to develop its financial and credit information ecosystem in step with economic and technological change. He said Credit Score 3i advances the use of data and analytics in credit risk assessment, supports more comprehensive evaluation, strengthens efficiency in the financial sector and encourages responsible credit practice.

The model is not confined to people with long banking histories. It covers individuals with established records and also eligible people who are new to credit, or who arrived in the country recently and have limited files — a group that conventional scoring has often left out.

Two score bands are in use. Individuals with established credit histories are scored on a 300 to 850 range. Eligible individuals with limited credit histories are scored on a 300 to 650 range.

Settling a default does not reset a score overnight. The bureau says a score may improve within six months of a default being cleared, depending on repayment behaviour afterwards, the rest of the credit profile and the model's criteria. An increase inside that window is not guaranteed. New defaults or other negative developments can push any improvement back until a further period of positive behaviour has been recorded.

Banks and other financial institutions gain additional credit information for lending decisions and risk management. Authorised entities, including eligible fintech companies and digital platforms, can draw on it as well. Each institution still applies its own policies and assessment criteria; the score informs a lending decision rather than making it.

A three-year window changes what a score can see. One late payment or a change of job weighs less against 36 months of steady repayment than against a shorter record, and applicants whose files were too thin to score now have something a lender can read. That carries weight in a market where short-term credit products have multiplied and where a large share of residents have only a few years of local borrowing behind them.

The bureau's database covered approximately 11.6 million individuals and businesses as of September 2026, alongside 20.2 million active credit contracts and 25.3 million active International Bank Account Numbers.

Issuance of reports and scores has grown sharply. The bureau produced more than 17 million credit reports and scores in 2025, compared with about 1 million in 2015.

Product coverage has widened too. During 2026 the bureau began including buy now, pay later accounts and other short-term credit products in its reporting.

Individuals can view their own scores through the bureau's website or mobile app, subject to registration, identity verification and applicable fees. The bureau encourages users to review their credit information regularly and check its accuracy.