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Understanding your credit journey can be a bit overwhelming, but it's essential to grasp its impact on your credit score. A credit journey refers to the history of your credit accounts, payment history, and credit utilization.
Your credit journey is a long-term process that can significantly affect your credit score. A single missed payment can drop your score by up to 100 points, as seen in the article section "The Impact of Missed Payments on Credit Score".
Credit inquiries, which occur when you apply for credit, can also lower your score. You can expect a 5-10 point decrease for each inquiry, according to the article section "How Credit Inquiries Affect Your Credit Score".
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What Is Credit Journey?
Your credit journey is the record of your financial history, including every loan, credit card, and other type of credit you've ever applied for or used.
It's a comprehensive report that shows how well you manage your debt and credit, and it's used by lenders to determine whether to approve or deny you for credit.
If this caught your attention, see: Which Credit Score Is Used for Mortgage Loans
Your credit journey starts when you're approved for your first credit account, and it continues until you close the account or it's paid off in full.
A credit journey can be influenced by factors such as payment history, credit utilization, and credit mix.
A single missed payment can stay on your credit journey for up to seven years, and it can significantly lower your credit score.
The length of your credit journey can also impact your credit score, with longer journeys generally being viewed more favorably by lenders.
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Understanding Credit Score
Your credit score is a crucial part of your financial life, and understanding it can help you make informed decisions about your money. It's based on six main criteria, which include late payments, age of oldest account, credit usage, hard inquiries, total balance, and available credit.
A good credit score can give you access to financial products like credit cards and loans at low rates, saving you money in the long run. To give you a better idea of what your credit score means, here's a breakdown of the VantageScore ranges:
Chase Credit Journey provides you with weekly updated credit scores, so you can keep track of your progress and make adjustments as needed.
What Is an Inquiry?
An inquiry is a check on your credit report by a lender or creditor. Soft credit checks don't affect your credit score like a hard inquiry does.
You might wonder what triggers a soft credit check. It can happen if a creditor or lender checks your credit for preapproval.
A hard credit check, on the other hand, occurs when a company checks your report when you apply for a line of credit. This can temporarily lower your credit score.
If you order your credit report by mail or telephone, it should arrive in 15 days.
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Review Your Score
Your credit score is a three-digit number that's calculated based on your credit history. It's a crucial factor in determining the interest rates you'll qualify for and the credit products you'll be offered.
To get an accurate picture of your credit score, you'll want to review it regularly. You can do this by checking your Chase Credit Journey account, which provides you with weekly updated credit scores.
The VantageScore, which is used by Chase Credit Journey, ranges from 300 to 850. Here's a breakdown of the different credit bands:
Your credit score is based on six main criteria, including late payments, age of oldest account, credit usage, hard inquiries, total balance, and available credit. Understanding how these factors affect your score can help you make informed decisions about your credit habits.
Soft credit checks don't affect your score, but hard inquiries can. If you're applying for a new credit card or loan, a hard inquiry will be made, which can temporarily lower your credit score.
You can see your free weekly credit report from Experian on Chase Credit Journey, and you can also view your credit report from Equifax and TransUnion at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Features
Credit Journey Affects Credit Score in Several Key Ways.
Credit scoring models consider the length of your credit history, with longer credit histories typically being more favorable.
A good credit mix, which includes a combination of different credit types, is also beneficial for your credit score.
Credit utilization ratio is another crucial factor, with high utilization rates negatively impacting your credit score.
Regular payment history is essential, with on-time payments making up a significant portion of your credit score.
Inquiries and new credit accounts can temporarily lower your credit score, but the impact is usually short-lived.
Having too many open credit accounts can also harm your credit score, as it may indicate a lack of financial discipline.
Using Credit Journey
Using Credit Journey is a straightforward process. You can become a member for free by enrolling on the Chase Bank website.
The dashboard displays your Experian VantageScore 3.0 score when you log in. This score is a key factor in determining your creditworthiness.
You'll also have access to a credit report alerts section, which shows any changes, additions, corrections, or deletions on your Experian credit report. This can help you stay on top of your credit history.
The dashboard provides a snapshot of the key factors affecting your credit, including late payments, credit usage, hard inquiries, total balances, and available credit. This information can help you identify areas for improvement.
You can view and manage information from your Experian credit report, including a free Experian limited credit report. This report includes most of the financial information Experian has collected about you.
If you find a record with a mistake, you can request to have it verified. If the lender or furnisher of the information is unable to verify the record, the credit agency will delete it from your account.
Credit Report and Score Accuracy
Chase Credit Journey shows you your credit report from Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus. This report is accurate and can be used to review for any inaccurate information and dispute errors to ensure your credit score is as high as possible.
The credit score you see on Credit Journey is accurate, pulled directly from Experian at least once a month as VantageScore 3.0. However, this score might not be the same as the Fico score used by most lenders, which could affect the accuracy of the credit score you get on Credit Journey.
Chase Credit Journey gets the credit scores from Vantage, but the actual information on your credit report comes directly from Experian, which is trusted as one of the credit bureaus. This means that the credit report displayed on your Chase Credit Journey portal is accurate.
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Accuracy of Scores
The accuracy of scores is a crucial aspect of credit reports. Credit scores can be calculated using different scoring models, such as Vantage 3.0 and Fico.
Chase Credit Journey uses Vantage 3.0 to calculate credit scores, which may not be the same as the Fico score used by most lenders.
The credit score you see on Credit Journey is accurate, as it pulls your VantageScore 3.0 directly from Experian at least once a month.
However, the Fico score is more widely used and has gained more popularity among lenders. In fact, Fico reports that 90% of top lenders use them over Vantage.
The accuracy of your credit report, on the other hand, is not a concern. The credit report displayed on your Chase Credit Journey portal is accurate, as it originates from Experian, one of the trusted credit bureaus.
Here's a comparison of the two scoring models:
The credit bureaus, including Experian, collect credit information from every consumer and hand it over to the scoring models. This ensures that the credit report displayed on your Chase Credit Journey portal is accurate.
Medical Debt Reporting Ban
Medical debt reporting can have a significant impact on your credit score. The CFPB has finalized a rule that removes medical collections from consumer credit reports nationwide.
This rule will remove approximately $49 billion of medical debt from consumers' credit reports, giving many people a fresh start.
The CFPB made this change to help protect consumers from the negative effects of medical debt on their credit scores. This is a major step towards making credit reporting more accurate and fair.
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Alternatives and Drawbacks
If not all is hunky-dory with Chase Credit Journey, there are other free credit monitoring options available. Nerd wallet is a very nice and updated website that has very good and advanced tools to help improve your credit score.
Chase Credit Journey is not the only game in town, and you can explore other alternatives like Nerd wallet.
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Alternatives
If you're not satisfied with Chase Credit Journey, there are other free credit monitoring options out there. NerdWallet is a great alternative, with advanced tools to help you improve your credit score.
You can also consider using other free credit monitoring services, like NerdWallet, which has been updated with good and advanced tools to help you improve your credit score.
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The Drawbacks
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The free credit score you get from Chase Credit Journey is a VantageScore 3.0, which may not be the same score a lender sees, as most lenders use FICO scores.
You'll only see information from your Experian credit report, which means you won't get a complete picture of your credit history since you also have reports from TransUnion and Equifax.
If you're concerned about the accuracy of your credit score, check with your credit cards and bank to see if they offer free FICO credit scores or monitoring services, like many financial products do today.
Consider reading: Understanding Credit Scores
Is Safe?
Chase Credit Journey uses a multiple-step identification process to confirm your identity and keep your information safe.
This process includes verifying your phone number with a one-time Security PIN sent to your phone number or through a series of questions based on the account and personal information in your credit report.
The questions are presented in multiple-choice form and you must answer multiple questions correctly to confirm your identity.
Suggestion: Free Identity Monitoring with Credit Journey
If you're unable to confirm your identity, you'll be given an alternate option for identification.
You can also contact Experian customer service representatives Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 9 pm (Est) at 1-844-343-5929 to confirm your identity.
Once you've confirmed your identity, you'll be given access to your account for free.
Recommendation and Final Thoughts
Chase Credit Journey is a good credit monitoring tool, especially since it's free and gives you access to your credit report and an about-credit score.
It's recommended, but not perfect, as some features can be a bit glitchy and the credit score is produced by Vantage, which might not be as accurate as other credit scoring models.
The tool doesn't make a hard pull on your credit, so you can check it often without affecting your score, which is a great feature for those who want to keep an eye on their credit health.
Recommendation
I've used Chase Credit Journey and I can attest that it's a good credit monitoring tool. It's free and gives you access to your credit report, as well as an approximate credit score.
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The features are great, but not all of them are well-oiled. The score simulator can freeze or give you a random score, and the card recommendations are limited to Chase credit cards.
Chase Credit Journey is based on only one of the three credit bureaus, which means you're not getting the full picture of your credit history.
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Final Thoughts
Good credit is essential for opening a credit card or loan. Knowing your credit score is the first step to having good credit. You can check your credit score for free through Chase Credit Journey, a tool accessible through your Chase account. Checking your credit score through Chase Credit Journey doesn't make a hard pull, so you can check it often without affecting your score.
Explore further: Good Credit for a Car Loan
Frequently Asked Questions
Is credit journey your actual credit score?
Your Credit Journey score is an accurate representation of your VantageScore 3.0, updated monthly from Experian
Why is my FICO score different from my credit Journey?
Your FICO score may differ from your Credit Journey score because FICO scores are used by lenders, whereas Credit Journey uses VantageScore 3.0, a different credit scoring model
Sources
- https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-repair/chase-credit-journey/
- https://helpmebuildcredit.com/chase-credit-journey-is-it-accurate-complete-review/
- https://upgradedpoints.com/finance/chase-credit-journey/
- https://finmasters.com/chase-credit-journey-review/
- https://www.solosuit.com/posts/should-i-use-credit-journey
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