Credit Reporting
What’s the difference between a credit score and report?
…And where can you check them, anyway?
Credit Bureaus
First things first: there are three “credit bureaus” that gather credit data: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.
Honestly, it’s sorta silly because they all gather data from and share data to different organizations. They will each come up with different credit scores for you, and as far as I can tell there’s no real rhyme or reason to this. So don’t stress it too much if one is giving you a higher score than another!
What are Credit Reports?
Each of the bureaus create a “credit report” for you, which is basically just detailed information about your past use of credit. It will list everything in detail, including:
What each account’s balance was, every month over the last several years
If there are any late payments, it’ll say if they were 30, 60, or 90+ days late
“Hard pull” credit inquiries
Accounts that have been or are currently in collections
How to check your credit report
What about your credit score?
Different banks and institutions take your credit report, and churn the data into a numerical score: your “credit score.” A couple weeks ago, we dove into the components of your credit score. Make sure to take a look at that!
Your credit score isn’t science, and won’t be the same from place to place. There are endless places to track your credit score — from your bank to My FICO, to free apps like Credit Karma. And just to make things extra fun, your score will definitely be different from company to company (mine will usually have a variance of like 30 points, depending where I look!) This is just an annoying fact of credit scores, and isn’t something you need to worry too much about.
My best advice is to pick one place to track your credit score — your bank’s free tool, My FICO, or a free app like Mint or Credit Karma. Pick one and take a look once a month — as long as it’s staying the same or generally trending upward, you’re in good shape!
Okay…But what’s next?