CreditWise Capital: Your Free Credit Score and Monitoring Solution

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CreditWise Capital offers a free credit score and monitoring solution, giving you a clear picture of your financial health. This service is available to anyone, regardless of their credit history.

With CreditWise Capital, you can access your credit score and report anytime, anywhere. This helps you stay on top of your finances and make informed decisions about your money.

Your credit score is a three-digit number that represents your creditworthiness. A good credit score can save you money on interest rates and help you qualify for better loan terms.

By monitoring your credit report, you can identify potential errors or signs of identity theft, allowing you to take swift action to protect your credit.

What is CreditWise Capital

CreditWise Capital is a credit monitoring service offered by Capital One, one of the nation's largest financial institutions. It was originally launched in 2014 as the "Credit Tracker" for Capital One credit card holders, but was rebranded as CreditWise in 2016 and made available to non-cardholders.

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CreditWise is free to use, as long as you're over 18 with a valid Social Security number that can be linked to a TransUnion credit profile. This makes it a valuable tool for anyone wanting to track their credit health, especially for those new to credit or who want free credit monitoring.

The service tracks activity on your credit report and alerts you to changes such as hard inquiries, newly opened accounts, balances, payments, and changes made to your personal information. It can be accessed through the CreditWise mobile app, which has a 4.8 rating across 262,000 reviews on the Apple app store.

You can also access CreditWise online through Capital One's website, which has all the same functionality as the app. The service uses a soft inquiry to access your credit report, so checking your credit score via CreditWise will not impact your score.

Here are some of the features you can expect from CreditWise:

  • Credit scores
  • Credit history
  • Credit reports
  • Budgeting
  • Saving
  • Housing
  • Retirement
  • The economy
  • Financial trends

How Credit Scores Work

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CreditWise from Capital One allows you to simulate how different factors will affect your credit score. This feature is especially helpful when planning to make significant changes to your credit habits, such as paying down $2,000 on your credit card.

Your credit score is calculated based on several key factors, including payment history, credit utilization ratio, credit history, new credit, and credit mix. Payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score, making it the most significant factor.

The credit utilization ratio, which is the amount of debt you owe compared to your credit limits, accounts for 30% of your credit score. To keep your credit utilization ratio in check, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends keeping it at or below 30%. Here's a breakdown of the other factors that affect your credit score:

Includes TransUnion VantageScore 3.0

You can get a TransUnion VantageScore 3.0 for free with CreditWise, even if you don't have a Capital One card. This score is updated quickly when your credit changes or when something appears on your credit report.

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The VantageScore 3.0 model calculates your score based on factors like payment history, credit utilization, and recent inquiries, just like the more popular FICO model. However, VantageScore uses different weightings, which can produce different results.

With CreditWise, you can also predict how certain actions will affect your TransUnion score. This can be a useful tool for making informed financial decisions.

Factors Affecting Credit Score

Your credit score is calculated based on several factors, and understanding these can help you make informed decisions about your credit.

Payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score, making it the most important factor. This is based on whether you pay your bills and debts on time.

Credit utilization ratio is the second most important factor, accounting for 30% of your credit score. This is the amount of debt you owe compared to your credit limits, and it's recommended to keep this ratio at or below 30%.

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Credit history, which includes how long you've had credit accounts and how long each account has been open, accounts for 15% of your credit score.

New credit, such as applying for multiple credit cards in a short period, can negatively affect your credit score by up to 10 points.

Credit mix, or the variety of credit types you have, accounts for 10% of your credit score. Having a mix of different types of credit, such as a mortgage and a credit card, can be beneficial.

Here's a breakdown of the factors affecting your credit score:

Keep in mind that a hard inquiry, or a lender checking your credit history, can temporarily lower your credit score by up to 10 points.

Capital One Products

Capital One offers a wide range of products that come with CreditWise, a valuable benefit that can help you monitor your credit.

If you have a Capital One card, you're likely already familiar with the benefits of CreditWise. It's a great tool for tracking your credit score and detecting any negative activity that could harm your credit.

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Those with excellent credit can use CreditWise to monitor their credit and stay on top of their financial game. They can also use it to track any changes to their credit report.

Anyone with less than ideal credit can use CreditWise to monitor their progress as they work to rebuild their credit score. This can be a huge motivator and help them stay on track with their financial goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the owner of CreditWise Capital?

CreditWise Capital was founded by Aalesh Avlani and Gurpreet Singh Sodhi in 2019. They are the co-founders and owners of the company.

Bertha Hoeger

Junior Writer

Bertha Hoeger is a versatile writer with a keen interest in financial institutions and community development. Her work primarily focuses on banking and microfinance sectors, providing insightful analyses of various Indian financial entities and organizations. She has covered a range of topics, from banks based in Maharashtra and those established in 2019 to private sector banks and microfinance companies.

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