[alistairSH]

It's also worth noting there is no singular credit score in the US. There are (at least) 3 agencies that generate credit reports. The "score" is usually the FICO score, but there are versions of FICO Score, and other scores.

In France, how doe a lender know if you have other loans/debt outstanding? Or if you have a history of non-payment? Those two make up the majority of a credit score (35% payment history, 30% debt burden). And the credit score is just one piece of an overall credit report.

[BrandoElFollito]

There is the "trust" component first: in your request, you list all your credits and the fact that you have failed a payment.

Then you provide the bank with your last three bank statements and your salary. They match the money movements with what they expect to see (a salary coming in, a payment going out, ...)

Finally, there is a centralized database of failed payments.

It works well, we do no have special problems with credits and how they are paid off (what helps is that there are compulsory insurances and protections for the credit-taker)