A: Under federal law, you’re entitled to a free report if a company takes adverse action against you, such as denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment, and you ask for your report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action.  The notice will give you the name, address, and phone number of the credit reporting company.  You’re also entitled to one free report a year if you’re unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days; if you’re on welfare; or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, including identity theft.  Otherwise, a credit reporting company may charge you a reasonable amount for another copy of your report within a 12-month period. 
* Credit Scorecard Information: Credit Scorecard is provided by Discover Bank, and includes a FICO® Credit Score and other credit information.  Credit Scorecard information is based on data from Experian and may differ from credit scores and credit information provided by other credit bureaus.  This information is provided to you at no cost and with your consent.  You must be 18 years old and a U.S. resident or a resident of America Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.  Your Credit Scorecard will be refreshed the later of every 30-days or the next time you log in to Credit Scorecard.  Discover and other lenders may use different inputs, such as a FICO® Credit Score, other credit scores and more information in credit decisions.  This product may change or end in the future.  FICO is a registered trademark of the Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries. 

Each credit bureau calculates your scores differently.  Experian uses the FICO Score 8, which ranges from 300 to 850.  Equifax calculates your credit score on a range from 280-850 while TransUnion, rather than using a FICO model, uses the VantageScore 3.0 which also ranges from 300-850.  The higher your score, the better offers and interest rates you’re eligible for. 

Comment Policy: We invite readers to respond with questions or comments.  Comments may be held for moderation and are subject to approval.  Comments are solely the opinions of their authors'.  The responses in the comments below are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser.  Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any company.  It is not anyone's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered. 
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) made it possible for you to get a free credit report.  Through FACTA you can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—each year.  You should take advantage of this ability by ordering your credit report and using it to monitor your credit history. 
Income does not play a role when it comes to determining your credit score because the credit bureaus that collect data do not collect anything regarding your income.  What does matter is how you manage your loans and other activities that play a role on your credit score – which are weighted individually based on importance towards your overall score. 
You will note that all of these companies offer a free credit score and a copy of your credit report.  However, receiving your credit score requires you to sign up for a free trial period for each respective company’s credit score monitoring service, generally ranging from $10-$15 per month.  The free trial period ranges from 7 – 30 days, which is plenty of time to sign up for the service, get a free copy of your credit score, and cancel the service if you do not wish to continue monitoring your score. 

Advertising Identifiers.  We and our service providers may collect Advertising Identifiers ("Advertising IDs") that are generated by a mobile device's operating system.  Advertising IDs enable us and our service providers to serve advertisements to a mobile device by helping to distinguish devices for ad tracking and suppression purposes.  You may choose to enable a feature that limits the use of Advertising IDs, or you may reset the Advertising ID on your device.  These features do not block all advertisements to your device, but they can prevent relevant advertisements (ads based on your browsing history) from appearing on your device. 

Server Log Files.  Your Internet Protocol (IP) address is a number that is automatically assigned to the computer or other device that you are using by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).  This number is identified and logged automatically in our server log files whenever you visit the Site, along with the time(s) of your visit(s) and the page(s) that you visited.  We use your IP address, and the IP addresses of all users, for purposes such as calculating Site usage levels, helping diagnose problems with the Site's servers, and administering the Site.  Collecting IP addresses is standard practice on the Internet and is done automatically by many websites. 

Your credit score won’t be affected by placing your loans into deferment, forbearance or using a hardship option, as long as you make at least the required monthly payment on time.  But interest may still accrue on your loans if you’re not making payments, and the accumulated interest could be added to your loan principal once you resume your full monthly payments. 

“Consumers participating in this process have greater control and transparency over the financial information that is being shared with a credit grantor,” Shellenberger clarified when asked about privacy and security concerns. “ The consumer has direct access to this data and therefore knows exactly what is being shared.”  Finicity, Experian and FICO have also set up extensive information security measures and protections to keep users’ data safe, he added. 
Hi Jenny, Doing a soft credit check, such as just pulling your credit score with Credit Sesame, does not impact your credit score.  On the other hand, if you are doing a hard credit inquiry, such as applying for a loan, that can slightly reduce your score.  Renting an apartment for some credit bureaus would have an effect on your score, while others would not considerate it. 
How does information get on my credit report and is it updated on a regular basis?Every month, lenders submit updates on your credit profile to at least one of the three credit reporting companies—TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.  Since lenders do not necessarily report to all three companies, the information on your credit reports may vary.  It is also true that lenders report at different times of the month, a factor that might contribute to slight differences in your reports, and therefore your credit scores, at any given time. 

The most important difference between the various credit scoring websites is the frequency with which the credit scores are updated.  Most credit scoring websites offer monthly or weekly updates -- WalletHub is the only site that offers daily updates.  It’s also useful to know which credit reporting agency the websites obtain their credit scores from.  You can find all you need to know in WalletHub’s 2018’s Best Credit Score Site report, at: https://wallethub.com/best-credit-score-site/. Hope this helps. 

Changing information.  Corrections or updates to your information including your email address, phone number, mailing address, credit card information or password reminder phrase can be made through the edit profile section of your account on the Site.  If necessary, other corrections or updates to your information can be made by contacting us.  For your protection, our customer care representatives may request supporting documents before making any changes or updates to your membership information. 
Not all of your lenders report to all three of the credit bureaus – While some lenders do report your credit information to all three credit bureaus, this isn’t mandatory.  There are almost always going to be differences in your credit history at one or more of the credit bureaus, though many will be minor and won’t affect your ability to get credit. 
Device Identifiers.  We, our service providers, affiliates and/or non-affiliated third parties that may host our products and services, may collect information about your device, such as a device ID or another identifier as permitted by the device manufacturer, when you access the Site.  This information is mainly used to aid in identity authentication and verification, and it is not used for advertising. 

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.  The FCRA promotes the accuracy and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s credit reporting companies.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the FCRA with respect to credit reporting companies.