3 Steps
Here’s a quick set of 3 steps to get your credit scores from all three credit bureaus for free. It’s basically just signing up for 3 accounts at 3 different websites that we’ve vetted (no credit cards needed).
Step 1:
In order to get your credit score from the TransUnion credit bureau, start off by taking 90-seconds to sign up for an account at:
CreditSesame.com (TransUnion)
CreditSesame.com uses and goes by TransUnion data for its calculations. CreditSesame also has a few more tools that can help you with more financial info if needed.
This freecreditscore is based on the data that it pulls from TransUnion’s credit data.
Step 2:
The next step is to get your credit score from Equifax (TransUnion is also included with this one). Sign up for an account to get your free Equifax credit score at:
CreditKarma.com (TransUnion and Equifax (VantageScore 3.0 model))
CreditKarma.com is another site that can get you your score based on TransUnion and Equifax. According to their site they use: TransUnion and Equifax (VantageScore 3.0 model).
Calculated using the VantageScore 3.0 model, these scores range from 300 to 850. Again, this freecreditscore is based on the data that it pulls from TransUnion and Equifax’s credit data.
Step 3:
To get your credit score from the 3rd and last credit bureau (Experian), sign up for an account at:
Credit.com (VantageScore 3.0 / Experian)
The last is Credit.com. You can check your score on this website for the 3rd of the credit bureaus. According to Credit.com “Your free credit score from Credit.com is Experian’s National Equivalency Score, and is based on a 360-840 point scale.”
This freecreditscore is based on data from TransUnion and Experian’s credit bureaus.
That’s it!
Now that you have credit scores from all 3 bureaus for free, check out a few others below that have basically the same process – sign up for accounts.
Other FreeCreditScore Websites:
WisePiggy.com (also uses TransUnion data)
My.CreditCards.com (also uses TransUnion data): Gives you a free credit score, free credit report, and free credit monitoring. Definitely worth checking out!
Credit Reports (FreeCreditReport)
There are other sites to keep in mind as well for your freecreditreport. These are:
AnnualCreditReport.com (FreeCreditReport)
AnnualCreditReport.com provides you with a freecreditreport every year. As they state on their website: “The only source for your free credit reports. Authorized by Federal law.”
More Specific Details About Credit:
The 3 Credit Bureaus (For FreeCreditScore)
As you’re probably familiar with, there are 3 credit bureaus that calculate your credit scores. The 3 are:
- TransUnion
- Equifax
- Experian
Their credit score calculations differ a bit since the information that they have in each is different. This is along with the way that the credit bureaus actually calculate credit scores.
For example, one credit bureau may have a few negative things in their information that the others don’t have or vice versa. This is why it’s a good practice to get all 3 credit scores.
FreeCreditScore vs. FreeCreditReport [FreeCredit]
A credit score is a number that is given to you that is based on your credit history. If you have never missed a payment for any loan that you’ve ever had, the odds are that your credit score is going to be high. On the other hand, if you’ve consistently missed loan payments, your credit score will likely be low.
A credit report is a list of information and records of the history of your credit. This includes missed payments and sometimes all of your payments that you’ve ever made.
Getting A Credit Score On Yourself Does NOT Affect Your Credit
Another myth that often comes up is that if you check your own credit, it will hurt your credit score. That is not true. You can check your own credit score as many times as you want and without having to worry about it affecting your credit score. It’s called a “soft inquiry” or “soft pull.”
Getting a free credit score or report on yourself from any or all of the websites listed above won’t affect your credit.
However, if you apply for a loan, the lender or banker will do what is called a “hard inquiry” or “hard pull.” When a lender does that, that action will affect your credit.
If you end up with too many “hard inquiries” or “hard pulls”, they can affect your credit along with whether or not you get approved for online loans with monthly payments.
Getting Your FreeCreditScore From Each Credit Bureau
To get a freecreditreport or freecreditscore, the websites above will ask you a series of questions to verify your identity. Some of the questions may be about various credit items in your past.
The security / verification questions are just to verify that you are you. After all, it’s important for them to make sure that it’s you that is requesting your credit information.
There are a few free services that retrieve your credit data and give you a credit score based on your credit data for a freecreditscore. You can get these scores at the links above.
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