Some people avoid checking their credit scores because they’re afraid of what they’ll find when they look. Also, some have a misconception that checking their credit score will affect their credit. Fortunately, as long as you use a credit scoring service to check your credit score, your credit won’t be affected.
7 Reasons to Check Your Credit Score Regularly
Going without checking your credit score, or checking it every few years, isn’t enough. To have control over your credit and your financial life, you must check your credit score regularly. Here are a few reasons why.
Where to Check Your Credit Score
There are many ways you can check your credit score for free. If you want to monitor your credit score regularly, using a free service is the best way. One you can try is annualcreditreport.com. Your bank also may offer a credit monitoring service that provides free updates to one of your credit scores. Check with your bank or credit card issuer to find out what services are available. Or, if your credit card issuer is part of the new FICO Open Access program, you’ll receive a free copy of your FICO score with each statement along with the major factors affecting your score. Credit cards with free FICO scores include Discover, Chase, Bank of America, Barclaycard, Commerce Bank, American Express, First Bankcard, and the Walmart credit card. You can also purchase your credit score through the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion or through myFICO.com. Each of these businesses offers a credit monitoring service that you can pay for monthly.
How Often Should You Monitor Your Credit Score
Your credit score can change as often as daily, depending on how often the information in your credit report changes. If you’re planning to buy a house or car soon, checking your credit score more often will help you be prepared. Otherwise, monitoring your credit score somewhere between semiannually to monthly is enough. Remember that your credit score is a number that reflects the information in your credit report at a specific point in time. To change your credit score, you’ll have to change the underlying information on your credit report with good spending and payments habits. Most credit score providers, even the free ones, will give you basic details about the factors influencing your credit score. You can use this information to decide what you can do to improve your score. As you monitor your credit score more often, you’ll notice your credit score moving up and down, sometimes as often as daily. Unless your credit score drops considerably and stays there, you don’t have to worry about changes to your score. Also note that your credit scores may be different between different providers, particularly if the underlying credit data is from different credit bureaus. This difference is a normal part of credit scoring.
