How to Get Your Credit Score

There are a few ways to obtain your credit score:

When getting your free annual credit report
By law, all consumers are entitled to a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus each year. The only government-authorized source of this free report is www.annualcreditreport.com.

A credit report is necessary to check for identity theft or fraudulent account activity and to verify the accuracy of your credit history, but your credit score is not included in the free annual credit report. You may order your credit score for a reasonable fee when you request your free credit report.

By enrolling in a credit monitoring service
Credit monitoring gives you unlimited access to your credit reports and your credit score for a paid monthly subscription. It can be a useful educational tool, but few consumers actually need to continually monitor their credit on a permanent basis.

If you go this route, consider subscribing for a period until you understand how your credit score is affected monthly by account balances and timely payments – and then cancel to save the monthly fee.

As perks offered by your credit card issuer or financial institution
Some credit card issuers, banks, and credit unions offer their customers free access to their credit score simply for having an account open.

If your current accounts do not offer a free credit score, it may be a perk to look for the next time you open a new bank account or apply for a new credit card.

When applying for a loan face-to-face with a person
If you are in the market for your next car and apply for a loan with the dealership, or plan to apply for a personal loan at your financial institution, then you can get your credit score at the same time.

It’s great to know your credit score before you hunt for credit. But if you don’t know, then all you have to do is ask and they will probably be happy to tell you what your credit score is.

It’s common for a consumer’s credit score to fluctuate over the course of several months, so checking annually is generally adequate unless the consumer is preparing to apply for an important loan, such as a home mortgage.