Here’s How You Can Find Your Credit Score
A lot of people today aren’t aware that there’s a system in place that assesses each individual’s credit score. Many of them only learn how a good credit score can affect their financial status once they attempt to take out a loan, buy a home, or make any other major purchase.
Credit scores are three-digit numbers that lending agencies use to determine whether they will allow you to apply for one of their financial products. This could be a mortgage, credit card, or some other form of credit along with the appropriate interest rates. In other words, your credit score shows how trustworthy you are in paying the money owed.
Besides that, your credit score also determines your premiums for homeowners and auto insurance coverage. Landlords also check it to decide who gets to rent their properties.
What Constitutes a Good Credit Score?
Credit scores normally range from 300 to 850, which is a numerical rating that measures how likely a person will repay their debt. The higher the number, the better your score.
This is because a high credit score indicates to agencies that you are low risk in terms of making payments on time. Financial institutions use credit scores to predict the likelihood an individual will pay what they owe.
Getting a score of 700 or more is generally considered a good numerical rating. You’ll find that there are many dependable consumers that have credit scores averaging around 600 to 750.
When you have a high credit score, creditors will be more confident in letting you borrow money because you have a good chance of repaying your debts based on your agreement. However, these entities can also set their own standards when it comes to determining a good or bad credit score.
Creditors do this because they want to attract different types of borrowers to their institution. They also consider ongoing events locally and internationally and adjust their credit score requirements accordingly.
There are several custom credit scoring systems in place today, but the two that are commonly used by consumers are the FICO and VantageScore programs.
What Is an Ideal FICO Score?
An ideal FICO score is one that ranges between 670 to 739, while bad ones are those around 300 to 579. Consumers having a score anywhere from 580 to 669 are considered fair.
The FICO credit score starts from 250 and ends at 900. Those who have scores reaching 800 and above are considered exceptional ratings and will often mean having access to the best deals.
What Is an Ideal VantageScore?
Compared to FICO, VantageScore has a higher rating in terms of credit scores. Consumers who have scores between 661 to 780 are considered good with this system. Meanwhile, those with scores around 300 to 499 are seen as very poor.
People who have a score of 781 to 850 are categorized as excellent and have a higher probability of benefitting from the best deals.
How To Check Your Credit Score
Adults shouldn’t continue living their lives without knowing what their credit scores are. A major reason for this is that these ratings change regularly, and they may go up or down each month.
When you know your current credit score, you’ll be able to make better decisions when it comes to your finances. For instance, you can be more careful when applying for new credit if you find yourself with low scores since being denied can lead to a further drop in your score.
The most straightforward way of obtaining an overview of your credit score is by getting them from credit reporting companies. However, some of them will require you to pay for their services.
If you’re looking for a way to obtain your credit score for free, consider the following websites:
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Credit Karma: Credit Karma is known for providing users with free credit scores and reports based on information obtained from Equifax and TransUnion. What makes this free credit score service provider great is that you don’t need to supply your credit card details upon registration.
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Credit.com: If you’re looking for a website that provides credit score updates monthly, then you might want to check Credit.com. Registered users of the website can get both their Experian and VantageScore credit scores here and don’t need to input their credit card numbers when signing up.
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WalletHub: Another option to check your credit score is by going to the WalletHub website where you can get information on your VantageScore ratings. However, you’ll need to supply your personal details and answer a few questions when you register for an account.
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Credit Sesame: This credit monitoring service provider offers its members their VantageScore credit score straight from TransUnion. You can also find personalized advice here based on their findings of your credit profile and goals.
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Discover Card: Customers of Discover Card can learn about their TransUnion FICO credit score for free through their monthly statement. Only the primary cardholder will be able to access their free credit score.
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Barclaycard: Barclaycard owners can obtain their free FICO score through their monthly statements. They can also learn about important factors that impact their credit scores such as their credit utilization ratio.
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Capital One Card: Whether you own a Capital One Card or not, you can gain access to your credit score for free here each month. A key feature of this service provider is their credit score simulator, which lets you see what impacts your ratings and overall credit health.
How To Access Your Free Credit Report
The federal government provides consumers with access to their credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The website AnnualCreditReport.com is the best way to obtain your report for free as it’s the only free method that is backed by the U.S. government.
Here are the steps to get your credit report from this website:
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Go to the AnnualCreditReport.com website and click the “Request Your Credit Reports” button. You will be sent to a page where you’ll need to click on the same button to continue.
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Fill out the form by providing your legal name, birthday, social security number, current U.S. address, and previous U.S. address.
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Click the “Next” button and select the reports you want to get. You can request credit reports from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion.
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Before you can obtain your requested credit report, you’ll need to first answer a few questions. You’ll need to repeat these steps for each credit report you wish to view.
Conclusion
Your credit score is an important statistic that many agencies use today to assess each individual. These entities check the credit score of a person to see whether or not a person can be trusted in repaying debt.
Many people don’t know that there is a credit scoring system in place and aren’t aware that there is a credit score attached to their name. The good news is that there are many ways you can learn about your credit score for free such as through Credit Karma, Credit.com, and WalletHub.
Ideal FICO credit scores are those ranging from 670 to 739 while a good credit score in VantageScore is anywhere around 661 to 780.
To obtain your free credit report, you should visit AnnualCreditReport.com and follow the steps provided.
Having access to both your score and report will give you a good idea of how you should handle major financial decisions moving forward.
