Credit score game: how much you can borrow at Harbour Bank

Looking for a credit score game that shows its working? At Harbour Bank in Malta Living, the free life sim played in your browser, Marisa now has the answer on one screen: your credit score as a word, and exactly how much you can borrow, worked out line by line.

Your score is a word, never a number

There are four: Building, Fair, Good and Excellent. A new life starts at Building. A job you've held for two weeks, or two weeks of payments made on time, takes you to Good. Excellent is for people who've banked here a month, never missed a payment, and are worth €50,000 or more. Each missed payment drops you a step and costs a €10 late fee, and the step comes back after 14 payments on time. A night in the cell drops it for a day.

How much can I borrow?

The limit adds up what you earn (30 days of your pay), a quarter of what you hold (savings, investments, bonds), and a tenth of your home and car, takes off what you already owe, then multiplies by your score: ×0.5 for Building up to ×1.25 for Excellent. It's how real lenders think, shown in the open. Being rich helps, but a missed payment hurts more than money helps.

The loan meeting

A personal loan is €500 up to your limit, at most €20,000 (€500 with no job). It adds 6% once and is repaid every day at 18:00 for 180 days, and you can pay it off early for free. Before you sign, Marisa asks three questions, different each day. Answers that match what the bank knows about you take up to a point off the rate. Bluffing doesn't work: say you've savings with none, and she frowns. Want to grow money instead of borrowing it? Read about investing in property, cabs and businesses, or start with the Malta life simulator guide.

Paying it back

Payments come out of your account at 18:00 every evening, after your pay lands, so a steady job covers them without you doing anything. You see what's left and the daily amount on Borrow, and "Pay it off" clears the rest in one go, with nothing extra to pay. Every payment made on time goes on your record and helps your score; after a loan is paid off, Marisa will lend again, often for more. If a payment is missed, you hear about it in your notes the same evening, and the bank keeps trying the next day. Seven missed in a row and no new loan is possible until it's back on track.

Questions people ask

What lowers my credit score?

Missed payments, one step each until you've made 14 on time, and a stay in the cell in the last day. Having no job keeps it at Fair at most.

Can I take two personal loans?

No, one at a time. Pay it off, early if you like, and you can borrow again.

Are home loans different?

Home loans work as before, from Homes, using the home itself as security. Real banks score borrowers in a similar way (Wikipedia: credit score).