Real-Time Alerts
Receive notifications when there is important activity related to your VantageScore®*. Real-time credit inquiry notifications that keep you informed when you make certain credit-related decisions that could affect your VantageScores®. Other alerts include:
- Score variance alerts when there has been a change in your VantageScore®* by 5 points up or down.
- Credit limit & usage alerts when you pay off a debt, raise your credit limits and improve your utilization rate.
- Positive credit activity alerts when there are positive changes to your credit report, like when you pay off a credit card.
Credit Monitoring
Experian® credit monitoring helps detect activity on your Experian credit report. Whether you initiated the activity or not, it’s important to be notified of changes so that potential fraud can be addressed immediately. Daily credit report monitoring for your Experian credit report keeps you informed of important changes to your credit file such as:
- Personal Information - Name, alias, date of birth etc.
- Hard Inquiries – Entities that have requested a copy of your credit report to process an application for credit.
- Potentially Derogatory Information – Past due credit accounts, collection agency accounts and charge-off credit accounts reported to the credit bureaus.
- New Accounts – Reported credit accounts, loans, etc. that have been opened in your name.
- Public Records – Types of records reported in your name, including federal bankruptcy records, state and county court records and monetary judgments, and in some states, overdue child support records.
- Address changes – Address updates reported to the bureaus.
Fraud Restoration Support
Recovering from identity or credit fraud can seem like a relentless process. With Experian CreditCenter you’ll get assistance from U.S.-based Fraud Resolution Agents to help you recover from fraud. They can assist you with things like freezing credit files, contacting creditors to dispute charges and closing accounts.
Visuals and Interactive Tools
Experian CreditCenter provides its members with an Experian VantageScore® credit score* tracker and simulator. The tracker is a graph that provides a visual of your credit score from month to month. The simulator allows you to explore different scenarios that could change your VantageScore credit score*, giving you a potential heads-up before you actually make a financial move
What is a credit score and how is it calculated?
A credit score is a three-digit-number a lender uses to help evaluate your financial behavior and determine how likely you are to repay a loan as agreed. They are also sometimes called risk scores. There are different scoring models to suit specific types of loans, such as auto lending, credit card and mortgage scores. There are also many different scoring models. FICO® Score and VantageScore® are commonly recognized credit score models. Different scoring models weigh various factors in determining your credit score. Those factors include:
- Your payment history.
- Your utilization rate (the ratio of how much credit you owe vs. how much credit you have). How long you've had your accounts.
- Your recent activity (credit you've applied for in recent months and how much).
- The type of credit you currently have (mortgages, auto loans and other installment loans such as student debt, which have fixed payments over a set period).
What are the different score ranges, and what do they mean?
Credit score ranges go from lowest to highest to help lenders evaluate the level of risk they face if they decide to do business with you.
A high credit score signals that you are a relatively low risk, while a low score indicates greater risk. Of two of the well-known credit score models lenders use, VantagesScore® and FICO® Score, the score ranges go from 300 to 850.
The higher the credit score on any model, the greater chance you have of being eligible for a variety of loan offers. For example, on the VantageScore range, 300-549 indicates a rating of "very poor," while a range of 750-850 indicates an "excellent" rating.
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*Calculated on the VantageScore 3.0 model. Your VantageScore 3.0 from Experian indicates your credit risk level and is not used by all lenders, so don't be surprised if your lender uses a score that's different from your VantageScore 3.0. VantageScore 3.0, with scores ranging from 300 to 850, is a user-friendly credit score model developed by the three major nationwide credit reporting agencies, Experian®, TransUnion®, and Equifax®. VantageScore 3.0 is used by some but not all lenders. Higher scores represent a greater likelihood that you'll pay back your debts so you are viewed as being a lower credit risk to lenders. A lower score indicates to lenders that you may be a higher credit risk. There are three different major credit reporting agencies, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax that maintain a record of your credit history known as your credit file. Credit scores are based on the information in your credit file at the time it is requested. Your credit file information can vary from agency to agency because some lenders report your credit history to only one or two of the agencies. So your credit scores can vary if the information they have on file for you is different. Since the information in your file can change over time, your credit scores also may be different from day-to-day. Different credit scoring models can also give a different assessment of the credit risk (risk of default) for the same consumer and same credit file. There are different credit scoring models which may be used by lenders and insurers. Your lender may not use VantageScore 3.0, so don't be surprised if your lender gives you a score that's different from your VantageScore. (And your VantageScore 3.0 may differ from your score under other types of VantageScores). Just remember that your associated risk level is often the same even if the number is not. For some consumers, however, the risk assessment of VantageScore 3.0 could vary, sometimes substantially, from a lender’s score. If the lender's score is lower than your VantageScore 3.0, it is possible that this difference can lead to higher interest rates and sometimes credit denial.