Geodemographic Segmentation is a classification technique for discovering whether the individuals of a population fall into different groups by making comparisons of multiple characteristics with the assumption that the differences within any group should be less than the differences between groups.

Put simply, it looks at similarities and trends within specific areas and is able to act on assumptions based on these findings. For example, if a postcode is mainly occupied by people with Adverse Credit, a lender is more likely to advertise Credit Cards that are easier to get accepted for, but carry a higher APR than they would a 0% card which requires a strong credit history to get accepted for.

Most commonly this data is used by marketers, but historically it was also used as a component of some credit scorecards.

The CAMEO Classifications is a set of consumer demographics that are used internationally by organisations as part of their sales, marketing and network planning strategies. CAMEO UK has been built at postcode level and classifies over 60 million British consumers. It has been built to accurately segment the British market into 57 distinct neighbourhood types and 10 key marketing segments. CAMEO was developed and is maintained by Eurodirect.

Does it affect my ability to get credit?

Your ability to take out credit is not affected by your address, your neighbourhood or the borrowing history of anyone other than yourself (with the exception of Financial Associations). That means a lender cannot base their lending decision on where you live, but the area you live in could have an effect on the type of credit products that are advertised to you.

You can see the things that are likely to influence your ability to take out credit by checking your Credit Report online. checkmyfile lets you see everything being reported by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion together in the same format. It’s free for 30 days and then just 14.99 a month. Cancel online at any time.