By law, you can get a free credit report each year from the three credit reporting agencies (CRAs). These agencies include Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Nationwide consumer reporting companies
There are three big nationwide providers of consumer reports: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Their reports contain information about your payment history, how much credit you have and use, and other inquiries and information.
Score providers, such as the three nationwide credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- and companies like FICO use different types of credit scoring models and may use different information to calculate credit scores.
An Equifax credit score isn't used by lenders or creditors to assess a consumers' creditworthiness. Instead, many lenders use FICO Scores® to help determine a potential borrower's creditworthiness. FICO uses credit scores from the three reporting agencies, including Equifax and Transunion, to determine their score.
The FICO scoring model is an algorithm that produces what is considered the most reliable credit scores. About 90% of lenders use FICO's model to evaluate candidates for credit.
Mortgage lenders pull all three credit reports
According to Darrin English, a senior community development loan officer at Quontic Bank, mortgage lenders request your FICO scores from all three bureaus — Equifax, Transunion and Experian. But they only use one when making their final decision.
The three major credit bureaus are Equifax®, Experian® and TransUnion®. Credit bureaus are sometimes called credit reporting agencies or consumer reporting companies. They're different from credit-scoring companies, such as VantageScore® and FICO®.
FICO Score
Very poor: 300 to 579. Fair: 580 to 669. Good: 670 to 739. Very good: 740 to 799. Excellent: 800 to 850.
Current or potential creditors — like credit card issuers, auto lenders and mortgage lenders — can pull your credit score and report to determine creditworthiness as well. Credit history is a major factor in determining (a) whether to give you a loan or credit card, and (b) the terms of that loan or credit card.
Access to Credit Reports and Unauthorized Inquiries
Access to an individual's credit report is restricted to authorized entities, such as creditors, lenders, and employers with the consumer's consent. Unauthorized access to credit reports is a violation of the FCRA.
1. Payment History (35%) Payment history is the most important factor in maintaining a higher credit score as it accounts for 35% of your FICO Score. FICO considers your payment history as the leading predictor of whether you'll pay future debt on time.
Businesses with access to credit reports:
Lenders and potential lenders: The most obvious businesses would be banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, auto dealers, and credit card companies from whom you are seeking credit.
Explanation: The companies named Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion track all of your credit information. These companies are known as credit bureaus and they collect, maintain, and provide credit information to lenders, creditors, and other authorized parties.
But, just how accurate are Credit Karma scores? They may differ by 20 to 25 points, and in some cases even more. When Credit Karma users see their credit score details, they are viewing a VantageScore, not the FICO score that the majority of lenders use.
FICO® and VantageScore® are the two most popular credit scoring models today. The credit scores they assign are equally reliable and accurate, based on the specific credit scoring model that's being used. Scores can and do fluctuate as new data is received.
What is a credit freeze? When you place a security freeze, creditors cannot access your credit report. This will keep them from approving any new credit account in your name, whether it is fraudulent or legitimate.
Credit bureaus are the companies that produce your credit reports. There are three major credit bureaus in the United States: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
In some countries that use other models, like Canada, people could have a score of 900. The current scoring models in the U.S. have a maximum of 850. And having a credit score of 850 is rare. According to the credit reporting agency Experian, only about 1.3% of Americans have a perfect credit score, as of 2021.
What Type of Information Is Not Found on a Consumer's Credit Report? Information not included on your credit report includes your personal buying habits, your marital status, your medical information, bank or investment balances, your education history, criminal records, and your credit score.
The average FICO credit score in the US is 717, according to the latest FICO data. The average VantageScore is 701 as of January 2024.
Auto lenders may rely more on Equifax and Experian for credit report insights, but TransUnion also sells consumer data to a number of automotive lenders. Credit scoring models such as FICO® Auto Score 9 generate a credit score based on the debt and payment information in a consumer's credit report.
Of the three main credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), no particular bureau is considered better than another. A lender may rely on a report from one bureau or all three bureaus when deciding whether to approve a loan.
Lenders determine what's called the "lower middle score" and usually look at each applicant's middle score. For example, say your credit scores from the three credit bureaus are 723, 716 and 699, and your partners are 688, 657 and 649. Lenders will then use the lower of the two middle scores, which is 657.