The credit agency used by its bank, here is why

One of the most important things to know when requesting a credit card is which credit office uses the bank to extract your credit report.

Your credit report is a detailed record of your credit history that can determine whether or not it is approved for a new credit line, such as a credit card.

In the United States, there are three important credit offices – Also known as credit reports agencies – that banks and credit card companies can pay to access their credit report: Equifax, Experian and Transunion.

The Credit Report Agency (CRA) used by a card issuer to see its credit report can determine whether your application is approved or denied, especially when you request several cards in a short period of time. If several card issuers extract from the same credit reports agency, they could affect their possibilities of being approved.

However, if the card issuers go to different credit offices to buy their reports, an issuer may not see that he is requesting a new account elsewhere. As a result, their possibilities of being approved for several cards should increase.

Multiple credit applications can reduce your score, so it is important to know what you are in before you decide to request several cards at the same time.

Table of Contents

Before requesting a new credit line

Knowing where your credit is before requesting any type of credit is critical. Be sure to verify your credit score and reports before completing a new application.

Verify your credit report

Your credit report is a record of your credit activity, which includes your payment history, pending debts and Credit consultations. Understanding your credit health gives you a better idea of how your application can search for possible credit card issues. Fortunately, verifying your three credit reports is easy.

Daily Bulletin

Reward your entrance tray with the TPG Diario Bulletin

Join more than 700,000 readers to receive news, in -depth guides and exclusive agreements of TPG experts

You can request a free Equifax, Transunion and experiences once every 12 months online in Annual Creditreport.com.

Verify your credit score

While your credit report paints a detailed image of your credit history, it usually does not include your current credit score, so you will also want to verify it.

Checking you Credit scoreHowever, it can be a bit more complex. Instead of only three scores, one for each of their credit reports, there are hundreds of commercially available credit scores, and some lenders even use their own custom models. This means that there are thousands of possible credit score variations.

The two most used credit score models in the US. Fico and Vantagescore. Vantagescore, created by the three main credit offices, has been gaining popularity since its launch in 2006.

However, Fico remains the standard of the industry, with 90% of the lenders who trust it for credit decisions. Many banks offer free phyro scores to card holders as a useful benefit.

What is a fico score?

Its FICO score is a number between 300 and 850 according to the information in its credit report.

The FICO scores are calculated using many different credit data in their credit report. These data are grouped into five categories: payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), duration of the credit history (15%), new credit (10%) and credit combination (10%).

These are the factors that make up its FICO score. Fico

The lenders use this score to evaluate their solvency: the higher their score, the greater the possibilities of approveing for credit cards and other loans.

According to Fico, a “good” credit score falls between 670 and 739, while a 740-799 score is considered “very good” and more than 800 is considered “exceptional.” However, Pursuing a perfect 850 score is not necessary. In most cases, credit card issuers do not differentiate much between scores greater than 720, so a strong score in this range is usually sufficient to ensure The best offers.

What credit offices do the banks review and why does it matter?

When requesting a credit cardThe issuer contacts a credit office (or several) to buy a copy of your credit report. In your report the five categories mentioned above are included.

You will notice that a credit report category, which counts for 10% of its score, is called “new credit.” If you have too many open credit applications within a short period of time, you can affect your Credit score negatively.

Imagine the following scenario: You have completed several requests for new credit (think of loans or credit cards) in the last 12 months. These requests appear in their credit reports such as “difficult consultations” and could damage their credit score.

Then you decide Request another new credit card. In addition to your score potentially, you can experience another road block.

The bank that processes your application may be worried about why you are requesting so much new credit in a short period of time. As a result, there is the possibility that it can be rejected for a credit card, even if your credit score is in good shape.

Knowing what credit reports use the agency’s card issuers to extract reports could help you avoid this problem. With this knowledge in your hand, you can have to chill your applications (or group them, as the case may be) in such a way that you improve your probabilities of approval for the credit cards you want.

Many credit card companies tend to trust an office when they process credit card requests. However, the credit office they use to buy reports may differ depending on the State in which you live and the specific credit card you want.

Here are the credit offices commonly used by three popular issuers:

CITI uses the three credit offices, but generally extracts credit reports from Equifax or Experian.
American Express uses the three credit offices, but mainly extracts Experian reports, although sometimes Equifax or Transunion also.
Chase uses the three credit offices but FISTRS experiences, but you can also buy Equifax or Transunion reports.

However, keep in mind that you can never know with certainty which credit office will use a credit card company.