As you may already know, credit scores are an indicator of your creditworthiness. In other cases, it gives lenders and banks an insight into your financial situation. However, you might not know that your credit score isn’t the only criteria that credit bureaus use to ascertain your creditworthiness. Instead, there is a beeline of other used criteria, many of which you’ll find in a full credit report.
A full credit report provides complete background information about how you’ve managed previous credits, debts, and other relative financial details that the credit reporting agency (CRA) has sourced from your bank and other related financial institutions.
A full credit report usually contains four sections that show details information about your:
- Personal Info. This information includes your name, date of birth, current and past living addresses, social security number, phone number, and current and previous employers.
- Accounts info. This section highlights all your credit account(s) details – credit cards, mortgage loans, student loans, or auto loans. The details include creditor names, payment history, balances, account numbers, high balances, credit limits, and account/payment status (whether or not credit is past due).
- Public records. Bankruptcy history, Credit default history, judgments, tax history.
- Recent Inquiries. Information about individuals or entities that have requested access to your credit report and the request timeline.
Note that marital status, Income amount, bank account balance, and level of education are not covered in a credit report. Moreover, only you, your employer, insurer, landlord, lender, or other permitted entities can access your credit report.
Full Credit Report as a Fingerprint
You can think of the detailed information contained in your credit report as your financial fingerprint. Whenever you apply for a credit card, mortgage, student loan, or auto loan, this information will allow your lender or your bank to determine whether you qualify for approval and the rates and terms that the approval will entail.
Regularly checking and monitoring your credit reports is essential. It will help you stay informed and remain in control of your finances. You can ensure that your personal and financial information is not erroneous with your credit report. Moreover, should you be a target of identity theft, it is easy to quickly notice the financial discrepancies on your credit report, ensuring that you’ll be able to take steps to rectify the situation faster.
It is straightforward and within your rights to request a full credit report. All you need to do is send a request to Experian, one of the best credit bureaus in the country. And you can choose how often you want to receive the reports and implement other personalization settings that work for you.