If you’re wondering about your creditworthiness, and want to see what lenders and credit bureaus think of you and your financial picture, you will probably want to see your credit score and credit history. Getting your credit score and credit history is easy; however, you need to be careful from who and where you are getting your credit report from.
There are a multitude of websites on the internet that advertise “free credit reports” or “free credit scores.” So it’s very easy to obtain your credit information. But one thing consumers should be aware of is that sometimes these websites that offer to give you free credit information fail to give the credit score that matters to lenders, and that is the FICO credit score. The FICO credit score system is generated by the Fair Issac Corporation by gathering your credit history from the 3 credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
Generally it costs about $16 to order your credit report. But once a year you can get your credit report for free from each of the credit bureaus. However, if you want to know what your credit score is you would have to get it through a company that offers the FICO credit score – such as Go Free Credit. Keep in mind that the 3 credit bureaus offer credit scores as well, such as the VantageScore, Experian PLUS, and TransUnion Score; but most lenders only accept the FICO credit scores.
