Guides
Credit score and report guides
Three in-depth reads, in the order most people need them: how scores are built, how to request and read the official reports, then the everyday habits that tend to raise a score.
New to credit scores?
Start with how scores work and its ingredient table, so the later habits have a clear purpose.
Ready to read the file?
The report guide covers AnnualCreditReport.com, each section of the file, disputes, freezes and alerts.
Want the number to move?
The habit guide covers on-time payments, utilization, old accounts and a realistic timetable.
Helping someone else?
Each guide ends with questions a partner or family member can ask too.
All three guides
How credit scores work
What a credit score measures, how the common ranges are built, and which everyday habits have the most weight when a new score is calculated.
How to check your credit report
How to request your official credit reports, how to read each section, and what to do when a detail is wrong, missing or belongs to someone else.
Simple habits that raise your credit score
A practical set of billing, spending and account habits that tend to raise a credit score over time, with a realistic sense of how long each one takes to show up.
Request one guide at a time
The form covers a single guide. Send it again whenever you want another. Text messages are optional and start unticked.