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Knowing your credit score lets you better gauge your chances of approval for certain credit products, such as mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.
There are many ways to check your credit score for free, including:
Typically, you’ll find your score through your online card account. Oftentimes, your provider will print your score on your card statements, or you can check your score via the card provider’s mobile app.
Credit cards let you access your FICO credit score at no cost. It’s updated monthly, bimonthly or quarterly. Here’s how to access your score for free using a credit card.
These are the top two types of credit scores on the market. Here’s how they differ:
If you’re picking a card based on its access to credit scores, look at what type of score you’ll receive. Credit cards from major issuers likely offer FICO scores, but it never hurts to check. Browse a credit card’s landing page to confirm, or call the provider.
Card provider | FICO score or VantageScore? |
---|---|
American Express | FICO |
Bank of America | FICO |
Barclaycard | FICO |
Capital One | VantageScore |
Chase | VantageScore |
Citi | FICO |
Discover | FICO |
US Bank | VantageScore |
Wells Fargo | FICO |
Getting a card with free credit score checks can help you keep an eye on your credit score. Otherwise, you’d have to pay for a credit check every time you want to see where your credit score stands. Compare a few credit card options that offer free credit score checks.
If a provider offers free FICO score checks, it probably limits access to customers only. In rare cases — such as with Discover — non-customers can access their credit scores too.
If you find a bank that offers complimentary credit scores to non-customers, pay special attention to which type of score is provided. Free scores are often VantageScores, which may not accurately gauge your creditworthiness among the majority of lenders.
A participating bank usually updates your FICO score monthly, and you typically must have one of its consumer credit cards. Each credit bureau may calculate your score a bit differently, so we’ve included the credit bureau each bank pulls your score from.
Bank | Credit bureau |
---|---|
American Express | Experian |
Bank of America | TransUnion |
Barclays | TransUnion |
First Commonwealth | Experian |
Citi | Equifax |
Discover | Experian (Discover ScoreCard); TransUnion (cardholders) |
First National Bank of Omaha | Experian |
HSBC | Equifax |
Huntington | Equifax |
Merrick Bank | TransUnion/Experian |
Synchrony (select cards only) | TransUnion |
SunTrust | Equifax |
Union Bank | Experian |
USAA | Experian |
Wells Fargo | Experian |
A participating credit union usually updates your credit score quarterly. Typically, you must have one of its consumer credit cards, but you may be able to access your FICO score if you’re a general member.
Credit union | Credit bureau |
---|---|
1st United Credit Union | Experian |
America First Credit Union | Experian |
Andrews Federal Credit Union | Equifax |
Community Credit Union of Florida | Experian |
Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union | Equifax |
Digital Federal Credit Union | Equifax |
DuPont Community Credit Union | Equifax |
Elevations Credit Union | Experian |
Fairfax County Federal Credit Union | Equifax |
Fortera Credit Union | Equifax |
General Electric Credit Union | Equifax |
Harvard University Employees Credit Union | Experian |
Healthcare Systems Federal Credit Union | Equifax |
Interra Credit Union | TransUnion |
KeyPoint Credit Union | Experian |
Langley Federal Credit Union | Equifax |
Listerhill Credit Union | Equifax |
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union | Experian |
Mountain America Federal Credit Union | Experian |
NASA Federal Credit Union | Experian |
Navy Federal Credit Union | Equifax |
PenFed Credit Union | Equifax |
Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union | Experian |
Polish & Slavic Credit Union | Experian |
Premier America Credit Union | Experian |
Robins Financial Credit Union | Equifax |
Stanford Federal Credit Union | Experian |
Star One Credit Union | Experian |
State Employees’ Credit Union | Equifax |
TrueCore Federal Credit Union | Experian |
Whatcom Educational Credit Union | Experian |
Discover is one of the rare financial institutions that lets non-members access their FICO credit score for free. Here’s how it works:
There are two ways you can get your free credit score from the credit bureaus:
There are three major credit bureaus in the United States: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Each compiles data about you from credit providers, which FICO uses to generate your credit score.
While each bureau will largely have the same information on you, their data will differ. For example, some creditors might report your information to just one or two of the bureaus. That’s why your credit score will be different depending on which bureau’s data it was derived from.
In some cases, you can get an additional free credit report. However, you have to be eligible first. This means you have to be either:
Generally, a good FICO score is 670 or higher. A number of factors go into determining your credit score and the benefit of having a great score extend beyond just nabbing a great rewards card. Read more about how your credit score works.
As the primary account holder, you get access to the free credit scores. If you have an authorized user who’d like to check their score, consider pointing them to a service open to non-customers, such as the Discover Credit Scorecard.
Now that you know how to check your credit score for free, make sure you keep an eye on it. Getting clear about your credit score gives you a better idea of what you need to work on. If you’re building your credit, for example, it’s helpful to know where you’re starting from and what to do. With a good to excellent credit score, you can safely apply for many types of loans and get relatively low-interest rates.
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