Why do you need to get credit score information? If you ever plan to take out a loan or a credit card in the future, information about your credit score is invaluable. Your credit score is what lenders look at first when they are deciding whether to give you credit and what kind of loan terms to offer you. If you’re interested in getting the best rates you can, you’ll want to start by knowing your credit score. But how do you get credit score information?
There are three major credit reporting bureaus that collect your credit information, and a credit score will give you an idea of what your borrowing power is based on that information. Unfortunately, getting your credit score is not as easy as going to the Experian, Equifax or TransUnion website and clicking the get credit score button. There is a bit more to it than that.
You may know that you can get your credit report free from these credit bureaus once a year, just by requesting it. What you may not know is that this free report does not come with a free credit score.
A better alternative is to order credit monitoring from CreditScore.com. This comes with Score Tracking, which alerts you whenever your credit score shifts.
Once you’ve got your credit score information, what do you do with it? You use it in conjunction with your credit report to plan your next move. If your score is much lower than your borrowing activity would suggest, look through that report and make sure there are no mistakes. If you’re ready to take out a big loan, but your score is not quite as high as you’d like it to be, make some financial changes and check back in a few months to see if your score is adequate for the loan and the loan terms you are looking for.