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Credit Report Basics

What is a credit report?

A consumer credit report is a document containing a factual record of anindividual's credit payment history. Credit grantors are permitted by law toreview credit reports to objectively determine whether to grant a consumercredit. Lenders usually report consumer credit payment information to thecredit bureaus. Most of the information in a consumer credit report comes directlyfrom the companies consumers do business with.

What is credit monitoring?

Credit monitoring is the act of monitoring your credit report for key changeslike inquiries or the opening of new accounts. Such changes to your creditreport could be indications of unauthorized activity like fraud or identitytheft.

Why is it important to monitor my credit report?

Your credit report can change daily as creditors and lenders report newinformation about you to the credit bureaus. And with identity theft on therise, it's recommended that you check your credit report regularly for signs offraudulent activity. Since mistakes on your report or possible fraudulentactivity may affect your credit score, it's important to monitor your creditreport regularly. Credit monitoring will check yourreport daily and notify you by email when key changes are detected becauseearly detection is key to minimizing the damage thatmistakes and ID theft can have on your credit.

About Credit Scores

A credit score is a three-digit number lenders and creditors use todetermine a consumer's credit worthiness. A higher credit score could qualifyan applicant for lower interest rates and better terms on a loan or creditcard, which could translate into a savings of hundreds or thousands of dollarsover the life of a loan or the duration of a credit card account.

Credit Score Calculation

Credit scores are calculated based on the data in your credit reports. Theycan change over time, sometimes on a daily basis, based on activity and changesto your credit reports. That is why it's important to stay on top of yourcredit reports for key changes that could affect your credit scores, somethingcredit monitoring does automatically. It's the fastest, easiest way to stay ontop of your credit, other than pulling your credit report on a daily basis.