When Self-Employed or Corporate Borrowers are applying for a Home Loan, the banks need to assess if they are creditworthy to be given the loan. One way to verify this is to check the Trade References.

A Trade Reference is a supplier, vendor, or other businesses where the potential borrower have bought and paid for a service or product. Paying for the product or service is important in establishing a good trade reference. This is similar to building personal credit, which means they've made no late payments to a supplier.

It's good to note that utilities are not considered Trade References. A small business or startup is not always the best reference either.