Keep track of your financial health by checking your credit score for free once annually by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.
We encourage members to review their credit report regularly. Here’s what you should look for and what it means to your credit:
- Accuracy - Review the entire report for general accuracy. If you see any accounts that you didn’t open or any errors with existing accounts, you should contact the credit bureau to initiate the process to correct them.
- Inquiries - Your credit report will show who has been accessing your credit report.
Soft inquiries include inquiries made by creditors with whom you already have a credit account, inquiries where you’re monitoring your own credit, or when your credit is checked by a lender to make you a pre-approved credit offer. Since
- enders are not making a lending decision or guaranteeing approval, these inquiries are typically considered promotional and won’t affect your credit score.
- Hard inquiries occur when a business has accessed your credit report in connection with an application for credit. If you see any hard inquiries that you don’t recognize, it may be an indicator that someone is trying to use your credit score or is committing identity theft. In that event, report the inquiry to the credit bureau.
Credit monitoring – Consider using a credit monitoring service. Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion all offer fee-based monitoring services. Other resources include LifeLock and Identity Guard.