How To Check Your Credit Score

Knowing how to check your credit score is the first step on the way to improving your credit score. If you don’t know how to check your credit score, you won’t be able to see if there are any errors or discrepancies which could be bringing it down. If you’re wondering the best way to check your credit score; then consider using the three main credit bureaus, online services, and financial statements. They can all give you access to your score. 

Highlights /Key Takeaways

• Your credit score: Is a three-digit number that lenders use when making decisions about offering loans, credit cards, and mortgages. This number can represent anywhere from a poor to an excellent credit score range. 
• Credit bureaus: Knowing what a credit bureau is paramount to understanding your credit score. There are three main credit bureaus and your credit score may vary between them. 
• Lenders: Learn how to check your credit score so you understand how lenders may view you when you apply for a credit product including a loan or a mortgage. 
• Credit score and credit report: Understand the difference between the two. Your credit score is a number on a scale and your credit report goes into detail about things like your credit history, payment history, open credit lines, and collection accounts. 

Checking Your Credit Score With The Credit Bureaus

The credit bureaus collect information from lenders and creditors to generate credit reports. The information reported on your credit report will be used to calculate your credit score. Your credit score is also known as your Fico score, so if you see that term, it’s referring to the same thing and is just a specific type of credit scoring model.  

Keep in mind that your credit score may be different for each bureau depending on which creditor reports to that bureau and when they report. 

Checking Your Credit Score With Equifax

Equifax is one of the three main credit bureaus in the U.S. You can use Free VantageScore 3.0 credit score via Equifax Core Credit to check your credit score for free each month and no credit card is required. It’s important to frequently check your credit score so you can immediately be aware of inaccuracies, see what your credit score range is, be alerted to potential fraud, and know what your odds are of being approved for things like an auto loan or a credit card. 

Other ways to check your credit score with Equifax’s paid products include:

• Equifax ID Patrol: At $16.95 per month, you get three bureau credit file monitoring, lock and unlock your Equifax credit report, and uncover potential identity threats. 
• Equifax Complete Premier: For $19.95 per month, help monitor your credit and social security number, access to three bureau Vantage Scores and report, and credit monitoring and alerts. 
• Equifax Complete Family Plan: For $29.95 per month you get three credit bureau monitoring and alerts, three bureau VantageScores and reports, and help protect up to four of your children’s credit reports with locking features. 
• Equifax Credit Monitor: For only $4.95 per month, you get access to your VantageScore and trends, alerts for key changes on Equifax, and access to lock your credit score and get an alert if someone attempts to access it. 
• Equifax Complete: For $9.95 per month, you receive Equifax alerts for any key changes, access to a team of ID restoration specialists, and up to $500,000 in ID theft insurance. 

Checking Your Credit Score With Experian

Another of the three major credit bureaus, Experian offers a free credit score option with its Fico score 8 model. Additionally, you can use its CreditWorks Basic program for free. This allows you to view your Experian credit report and Fico score. 

Experian also offers a paid product that you can use to check your credit score which is called CreditWorks Premium. With this product, you get a free seven day trial and then it’s $24.99 per month. 

Some of the CreditWorks Premium features include:

• All three credit reports monitored
• Alerts and locking capabilities
• Daily access to Experian scores
• Identity theft monitoring and protection and more 

Checking Your Credit Score With TransUnion

The third major credit bureau TransUnion offers free annual credit reports, free credit freezes, credit monitoring, free TransUnion disputes, and free credit monitoring for active duty service members. 

Its paid services, or premium services as they are called, include:

• Credit Monitoring: For $29.95 plus tax, you get unlimited updates to your TransUnion credit report and score, instant alerts, locking capabilities, ID theft insurance, a score simulator, and personal debt analysis tools. 
• Credit Protection: For $29.95 per month plus tax, you get credit protection services including instant alerts, unlimited updates to your TransUnion credit report and score, ID theft insurance, access to ID theft specialists, and more. 
• Score Simulator: For $29.95 per month plus tax, you get access to personalized credit planning and can see how future decisions can potentially impact your credit score. So, before you apply for that new credit card, see what it would do to your score with the score simulator tools. 

Finding Your Credit Score Via Financial Institutions and Credit Card Providers

In addition to the credit bureaus, you can find out your credit score at banks, credit unions, and with loan servicers. You may be able to find your score on a monthly statement, by logging onto your online portal, or if you sign up for their credit related services. Some companies that offer free credit scores include:

• American Express: The company offers MyCreditGuide which won’t hurt your credit score by checking it. You can check it as often as you like and receive alerts as well as score goals and a score simulator. The report you have access to through MyCreditGuide is TransUnion. 
• Bank of America: Checking your TransUnion Fico score for free every month is offered to eligible Bank of America credit card customers. Checking your score won’t negatively impact it and you get access to features such as what’s impacting your score, credit strategies, and credit comparisons month over month. 
• Capital One: CreditWise from Capital One helps you monitor your credit without hurting it. You get access to your TransUnion credit score, the full report, and alerts to any changes, all for free. You can also monitor that your personal information doesn’t end up on the dark web. 
• Chase:Chase Credit Journey is free for everyone and it offers credit score monitoring, identity monitoring, and round the clock tech support; no Chase account required. 
• Citi: Citi card members get free access to their Equifax credit score which is updated monthly. They also get access to educational credit videos and informational resources. 
• Discover: Card members can check their Fico score for free which is provided by TransUnion. They can learn about the contributing factors that make up your score. You also get access to free credit freezes, fraud liability, and social security number alerts. 
• U.S. Bank: Customers can view their Vantage Score from the app or website anytime for free. You also get access to your credit progress report and a score simulator. 
• Wells Fargo: Tools offered to customers to monitor your Fico score, easily manage your money, budget advice, and credit strengthening tips. 

Checking Your Credit Score With Online Services 

Another way to check your credit score is through online services which can often be accessed from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Many online services let you access your credit score for free. Check out these websites to see your credit score for free and without negatively impacting your credit score.

• Credit.com: This site offers a free Experian credit score, credit builder tools, and a credit report card. They also have personalized credit card and loan recommendations based on your credit score. 
• Credit Karma: This online service offers both TransUnion and Equifax scores which are checked daily. Additionally, there are credit card and loan recommendations and credit score breakdowns so you can see how your score is changing, what factors impact it, and suggestions to improve it. 
• Credit Sesame: Free daily credit score updates from TransUnion as well as educational resources, identity theft protection, and credit monitoring alerts. 
• FreeCreditScore.com: Get your free Experian credit report and Fico score for free on this site. Updates are done every 30 days, you can submit disputes for free online, and there is a plethora of credit resources on the site. 
• Mint: This is a personal finance app where you can manage your money, keep track of bills, check your credit score for free, and have access to budgeting tools and goal trackers. 
• FICO: You can check your FICO score for free or via a paid service. Their free plan lets you view your Equifax score and a monthly full Equifax credit report as well as one bureau monitoring and alerts. Their paid plan is called the Advanced Plan and it costs $29.95 per month. In addition to all the benefits of the free plan, you also get access to all three bureaus credit reports every three months, three bureau monitoring, identity monitoring, score simulators, and identity theft insurance. 

Checking Your Credit Score With Online Counselors 

Another way to check your credit score is by working with a credit counselor. They can help consumers get a copy of their credit report and their credit scores. These non profit agencies have certified counselors who can help not just check your credit score, but explain it to you, and advise you on how to increase your credit score, better manage your money, adjust your budget, and give you tips to pay off debt. 

Check out The National Foundation for Credit Counseling to see what credit related services you may benefit from.  

Understanding Your Credit Score 

Credit scores are calculated using information from your credit report. When you understand your credit score, you know what factors will affect it, you know what to do and what not to do, and you typically become more mindful about spending and credit related decisions. For example, understanding that on time payment history makes up a large percentage or your credit score will make you more diligent about paying all of your bills on time. 

You can check your credit report for free at the sites below:

• Annual Credit Report.com
• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion 

Keep in mind that the two most common credit scoring models are FICO and VantageScore; both of which we will delve into below. 

Fico Credit Scores

A Fico credit score is a specific type of three digit credit score used by the company Fico to determine someone’s credit worthiness. It was introduced by the Fair Isaac COrporation in 1989. Fico scores range from 300 to 850. The higher your Fico score, the more loan options you will have, the better rates you will have, and you will be considered a lower risk borrower. The opposite is also true; the lower your score, the less loans will be available, rates will be higher, and you will be considered a higher risk borrower. 

FICO credit score calculations are made up of the following: 

• Payment history: 35%
• Amounts owed: 30%
• Length of credit history: 15%
• Credit mix: 10%
• New credit lines: 10%

Fico score ranges include:

• 300 to 580: Poor
• 580 to 669: Fair
• 670 to 739: Good
• 740 to 799: Very good
• 800 to 850: Exceptional 

If you have what is considered a Poor credit score you may get turned down for a loan, will only have access to lower credit limits, and your interest rates will be higher, meaning you will pay more money for the same product than if you had a Good or better credit score. 

VantageScore Credit Scores

Besides the Fico score method, there is the VantageScore method. It’s a U.S. consumer-credit scoring system created by all three of the major credit bureaus. It was formed in 2006 and is managed by an independent company called VantageScore Solutions, LLC. VantageScore typically uses a 14 day period and Fico Score uses a 45 day span. VantageScore is considered to be the more modern scoring system and is thought of as being innovative, adaptive, and includes some predictability in its scoring methods. 

The VantageScore range includes:

• 300 to 600: Subprime
• 601 to 660: Near prime
• 661 to 780: Prime
• 781 to 850: Superprime 

Improving Your Credit Score

Now you know how to check your credit score, you can focus on strategies for improving it. Your credit score will be with you as long as you live and it has such a large impact on so many different aspects of your life. It can affect where you live, the kind of car you drive, where your children go to university, and how much your credit card limits are. 

Some tips for boosting your credit score include:

• On time payments: Pay everything on time all the time! Set an alarm, put it in your calendar, or set up auto pay. Even if you can only pay the minimum amount, pay it on time. It makes a huge difference with your credit score. In fact, it’s the most important factor that impacts your credit score. 
• Add lines of credit: Add positive lines of credit to your credit score. These can include cell phone bills, rental payments, utilities, and more. 
• Manage your credit utilization: Just because you have $10,000 of available credit, doesn't mean that you should spend it all. Keeping your utilization rate at 25% or below is ideal. So, try to spend $2,500 or less of that $10,000. We know it’s hard but it will pay off when you see your credit score increase!
• Dispute credit report errors: Frequently check your credit report so you can get on top of errors and inaccurate information as soon as possible. If you made an on time payment and it’s being reported as late, dispute it. Same goes for if you paid off a loan, but it’s showing as unpaid. Taking a few minutes to do this can boost your score and save you money. 
• Don’t forget to build your credit: Use free resources that suggest secured credit cards and credit builder loans. Once you successfully make on time payments, not only will your credit score increase, but you will also get access to more products with lower rates and better terms. 
• Be an authorized user: If you know someone with good credit who has a long credit history, and makes on time payments, consider asking them if you can be an authorized user on one of their accounts. Their on time payments and their credit limit will positively reflect on your credit report and will help to boost your credit score. 

Final Word

Now you should know how to check your credit score multiple different ways from a variety of sources. You can pull an annual credit report, find free credit reports, and by use online counselors, online services, and financial institutions websites to check your credit score. You also may not even realize that your credit score is listed on some loan and credit card statements.

Remember to check your score often so you’re aware of your credit score range, its accuracy, and what types of loan products you will potentially qualify for. Check out personal loans for good credit and personal loans for excellent credit. Keep in mind that the first step to achieving good credit is knowing how to check your credit score because once you know your score, you can actively work on improving it.