There are three separate American credit bureaus.  These credit bureaus are the Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.  These bureaus measure the individual credit scores by analyzing past credit history and giving a score.  Is it safe to issue a loan to this person – this is determined by this credit score.  Different techniques are however often taken up for calculating the credit score by these three credit bureaus.  Hence, it is not uncommon that the findings may not be the same.  An automatic software is used for the calculation of the credit score.  This software has been made by FICO (Fair Issac Corporation).  Hence, you will find many people referring to them also as FICO scores.

In an individual credit report, all these three credit scores are considered to come to a conclusion.  The VanatageScore credit score is also calculated by all the bureaus, just like the three credit scores.  Generally, VantageScore can assume any value between 501 and 900.  You will find the FICO credit score in the range between 300 and 850.

If you want to know what your score is, you can do this and that too free.  For this, subscription to one of the several credit monitoring services of the bureaus is necessary.  The lenders can also have access to the detailed credit report of the borrower directly from these bureaus.  Based on these credit scores, they can decide whether to lend money to a borrower or not.

But why for all reasons should you know what your credit score is?  The fact is, there can often be errors in it.  Your credit report may be there for as long as 7 years and so you have to verify about its accuracy for your benefit.  And thus, you should find out where to approach for your three credit scores and also how to do it.  It is absolutely essential that you know about this.

The credit history of a person is collected, analyzed and then the report is made by different bureaus in the US, and it is also forwarded to the lender.  The Experian, TransUnion and Equifax are the most important of these credit bureaus.  However these bureaus all work independently when calculating the credit score of a person.  And that is why, the credit score can differ from one bureau to another.  This is because different methods are adopted by the bureaus for credit score calculation.

So always ask to know my credit score before making that loan application.  However you will have to know where to approach and how to access this score as there are specific procedures.  The credit bureaus come up with separate credit scores – so remember this.  Remember to check your credit score because you do not want an error there.

Credit score reports can be requested from the bureaus by everyone.  And the good news is, it is free as well.  You should ask for this report even if you have reasons to believe that it is accurate.  The three bureaus all hold your score individually and you should know your record from them all.  The bureaus will offer this information also to the lenders when they are trying to analyze your credit worthiness.  Lenders can, armed with this information accept or reject your loan proposal.

Thus, if you suddenly find that your request for the loan is denied, you should promptly want to check my credit score.  But the wise thing to do is to check this record even before making that loan application.  Sometimes the agencies will keep their records for up to 7 years, and so, even if you defaulted once but subsequently your records improved, this might still go against you.  And thus what they will show in the records is inaccurate and you naturally have to bring this to their attention.

You can find out how to access your credit reports and score instantly on the web at www.ThreeFreeCreditScoresOnline.com.

Different methods are adopted by the three major credit bureaus for calculating your credit score.  Hence, it is only natural that these credit score figures would be different.  The three figures can be effectively rolled into a single, individual credit score after analysis.

You must definitely check your credit score because there can be an error.  And when this happens, your credit worthiness is almost sure to take a beating.  It is possible that there was a single default, after which your financial condition has improved but since your record may be held for up to even 7 years, the authorities might still hold this negatively.  Checking the score makes sense because remember, it is free.  So go ahead and check your free report credit score.  For getting a copy of your credit score, you must however know whom to approach and how to get it.

Take a look at the report to verify that everything is correct, and if there are mistakes, then you will need to bring it to their attention.  Do not stop at checking just 1 report – you will need to check all the 3.  Check all the 3 credit scores even if you have a reason to believe that there should not be any problems in your credit history.

Detailed data on every credit transactions you have carried out are included in these reports.  Previously, people had to wait for about a fortnight before they could have their credit reports.  However, these days you can get these reports instantly.  There are other reasons too why you should ask for your free credit score report as well.  You can be sure that the lender will take a look at your report to know how credit worthy you are before a final decision as to approving or rejecting your loan application is taken.  And this is why you must always know what your score is before you send over that loan application.