Relative newbie here, many thanks to FT. I USED to think I had this FF stuff figured out fairly well but you all have shown me how to do it like a pro.^ Thank You.

We frequently read here that upon applying for a credit card one had a “hard pull from TransUnion” or a “pull from Equifax”. We also read about exact individual credit ratings and the changes following a specific credit card application. I’m very curious how and where this information is found. (I’m lucky that my last name has an unusual spelling which I presume makes identity theft more difficult and also that I have an excellent credit history going back 30 years and I’ve never been denied credit when desired (other than CitiBank for already being an AA cardholder; I really would have liked that 75K bonus 2 or 3 times).

I have occasionally obtained a free credit report after being declined for a credit card (which I’ve usually been able to reverse with a phone call) but I’ll confess I look it over quickly for any glaring errors and then file it deep in the pile. This forum has peaked my interest.

Does finding out about pulls and exact credit ratings require a paid membership? Is the information available without charge? What’s the most reliable source? What’s the difference between a hard pull and other pull’s? Thanks very much.

You can see both hard pulls and soft pulls on your credit report.

A hard pull is one that is visible to other creditors, potential creditors, or anyone when they pull your report. You get a hard pull when you apply for a credit card or a loan. It stays on your report for 24 months.

A soft pull is only visible to you. You get soft pulls when your creditors check your reports for reviews or for marketing purposes.

You are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major agencies. You can get it at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp Really savvy people spread it out throughout the year so that they check on one credit report every four months making it easier to spot issues that may have cropped up.

You can get your free credit score through creditkarma.com. I thought that this was an estimated score but in reading their FAQ it appears to be the real thing.

If you're churning credit cards for points (like a lot of FT'ers) or you're just a worrywart (like I am) you might want to think about enrolling in AMEX's credit secure: https://www295.americanexpress.com/p...toring/home.do

Its the best credit monitoring service out there. Its not cheap at $13 a month but there's no price you can put on piece of mind. They alert you every time you get a hard pull on your credit report and you're entitled to pull your own report (without it affecting your score) twice every month. You'll find it especially worthwhile when/if you need a home mortgage or car loan.

No need to ever pay for your own credit report. Since you are entitled to a free credit report any time a creditor takes adverse action towards you....... and............ almost all the big banks took adverse action towards EVERYONE in the last couple of years. You can go to the following links and enter the bank of your choice as the one who took the adverse action against you, and get a free credit report, showing both hard and soft pulls.


http://annualcreditreport.transunion...tSituation.jsp
https://aa.econsumer.equifax.com/aad/landing.ehtml
http://www.experian.com/reportaccess

Thanks all, great info and links. Specifically also wondering how those who post “xxx Bank did a hard pull from zzz (agency) after I applied for their credit card” (within a few days of application) get their information.

I was wondering that also. It must be people with the a paid monitoring as mentioned above. $13 a month seems a little steep.

Nice. Can anything negative happen by requesting these? Such as using up your free credit report for the coming year?

No down side. It's just a soft pull with no further significance.

Thanks for the link. Seems like a good deal for all 3 scores & reports twice per month. Also, the link you provided leads to a promo for AMEX cardholders, 1st month for $1.99, $11.99/mo thereafter.

I use creditsecure through Amex as well and recommend it. You get two free reports from all 3 bureaus each month with scores. I usually use one on the 1st and one on the 15th.

Will the credit reports have a credit score associated with them? I haven't pulled one in a long time and can't remember if it did in the past.

So I signed up, but don't know the link to login now! Can anyone help with the link? I tried login in from here, https://www295.americanexpress.com/p...ing/enquiry.do

but got an error!

login here: https://www295.americanexpress.com/p...toring/home.do

It also graphs your credit score and has this really cool tool where you can calculate how certain actions will affect your score.

Just a reminder, if the score doesn't say FICO, you may be looking at a different scoring scale(aka FAKO). VantageScore scores go from 501 (F) to 990 (A)

When applying for rewards cards, I try to keep my FICO above 700 and my VantageScore above 800...