Are you interested to know what your current credit score standing is? Most likely your answer is yes especially if it is a free service. I would love to know and even monitor my credit score. That way, I would know what to do if in case it starts to dwindle down. This is one of the recent services that Chase has added to their already great plethora of services; the Chase Credit Journey (by DotComHouse).
What is Chase Credit Journey?
The Chase Credit Journey is a service of Chase Bank that is used for the purpose of checking and as well as monitoring any individual’s credit score. You may use this to learn if you qualify to increase the Chase credit limit.
Or as a reference to know your chances when checking your Chase credit card application status. Chase Credit Journey uses the TransUnion database to provide all its services.
What is a credit score?
A credit score is a figure used to evaluate a person’s creditworthiness and is based on his or her credit history. Creditors use credit scores to evaluate an individual’s ability to repay his debts. A person’s credit score ranges from 300 to the highest of 850 (FICO) or from 500 to 990 (VantageScore). The higher the score, the more “financially trustworthy” a person is.
In 1989, the Fair Isaac Corporation (also known as FICO) introduced the credit score model, which is being used by financial institutions. The FICO score is by far the most commonly used, despite the availability of other credit-scoring systems.
Lenders offer credit based on person’s credit score. For example, people with credit scores below 640 are generally considered as subprime borrowers. Lending institutions often charge higher interest on subprime mortgages than a conventional mortgage as they carry more risks. They may also require a shorter term or a co-signer for those with a low credit score.
Conversely, a credit score of 700 or above is generally considered good and may give a lower interest rate. Thus, borrowers pay less money in interest.
Consumers can possess high credit scores by keeping a long history of paying bills on time and keeping their debt low. While every creditor defines its own ranges for credit scores, here is the average VantageScore range:
- Super prime: 901 – 990
- Prime plus: 801 – 900
- Prime: 701 – 800
- Non Prime: 601 – 700
- High risk: 501- 600
A person’s credit score may also determine the amount of required initial deposit to obtain a smartphone, cable service or utilities, or to rent an apartment. Moreover, creditors frequently review borrowers’ scores, especially when deciding whether to change an interest rate or credit limit on a credit card!
Credit Score Factors
There are three major credit reporting agencies in the United States including Experian, Transunion, and Equifax, which report, update, and store credit histories of each consumer. While there can be differences in the information collected by these credit bureaus, there are five main factors evaluated when calculating a credit score:
- Payment history
- Total amount owed
- Length of credit history
- Types of credit
- New credit
VantageScore
Chase Credit Journey provides your VantageScore, not your FICO score. The VantageScore is jointly developed by the three major credit bureaus to predict how likely you are to repay your borrowed money. Lenders, landlords, and financial institutions use it to evaluate creditworthiness.
In 2006, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax came up with the algorithm to produce VantageScore, competing against the better-known FICO scores. Initially, VantageScore used a different scale, but the most recent revisions have a 300 to 850 scale, which is similar to FICO’s.
VantageScore is now getting lenders’ attention and is widely offered to consumers for free. Research firm Oliver Wyman calculates that about 12 billion VantageScores were used by lenders from July 2018 to June 2019.
VantageScore versus FICO
Accessing the site’s credit score monitoring is pretty straightforward and easy. Just as long as you have a decent internet connection and a device to access the internet you may view your score anytime. Here, let me show you.
VantageScore is easier to establish than a FICO score. VantageScore can be produced with just a month or two while FICO scores require six months of credit history. Also, some consumers who can’t be scored by most FICO models because of limited credit history can still get a VantageScore.
Other Features of VantageScore 3.0 (Chase)
- Ignores paid collections, which is also present on the new FICO 9 model, although it is not as widely used as FICO 8.
- Although all late payments can damage your score, it puts more weight on late mortgage payments than others.
- Allows 14 days for rate-shopping for a car or mortgage, compared with 45 days for FICO.
- Makes allowances for consumers who are affected by natural disasters.
To track your score over time for credit-building purposes, a VantageScore will do the same job as FICO. The same factors influence both credit scores.
Meanwhile, the strategy for achieving a good score is the same. That is to pay bills on time and keep balances low. In contrast, paying past the due date or maxing out your credit limit will definitely lower your score.
How to use Chase Credit Journey
Chase Credit Journey is free to use for everyone. You do not even have to be a Chase account holder just to access this free service. Although it is Chase’s, Chase Credit Journey is not available on the Chase smartphone app. But you can still access this through your smartphone web browser or from any of your laptop or desktop browsers. All you have to do is visit the official site.
How to Access
Accessing Chase Credit Journey is important, particularly when you have plans of having major purchases or loans. Tracking your credit score ensures your purchase or loan will be approved.
- Make sure you have a good internet connection.
- Open your browser, either from your smartphone or your laptop.
- Go to the Chase Credit Journey official website.
- Fill in all the required personal information.
- Enter your mobile number.
- Type in only the last four digits of your Social Security Number.
- Check and agree to the terms and conditions of the site.
- Click Continue and wait for the result to appear.
- Your credit score will be shown on your Chase Credit Journey home page. To view the history of your credit score, click on Over Time to see a graph of the activities in the previous six months.
- You may also receive email notification about your recent credit-related activities.
How Chase Credit Journey Works
Your credit score is based on six main criteria. These factors are combined to determine your Chase Credit Journey score, which will range between 300 and 850.
- Late payments: Payments made more than 30 days from the due date are being reported and will be visible on your credit report for 7-10 years.
- Age of oldest account: It is good to show that you have been responsible for managing your credits for a long time, so your oldest account’s age is important. Meanwhile, closing your oldest account will negatively impact your credit score.
- Credit usage: Your credit utilization ratio is the portion of your current credit limit you are using. You want to show creditors that you don’t maximize out your available credit, so you have to keep a low number here. Generally, 30% is considered good.
- Hard inquiries: The number of requests made to see your credit history in the past two years also affects your credit score, particularly when you open a new credit card or apply for a loan. Six or more inquiries are considered poor, but it doesn’t have a huge impact on your score.
- Total balance: This is the sum of the amounts you currently owe in all lines of credit. It is good to keep this low, but since this also includes things like mortgages, it can be high without impacting your credit score.
- Available credit: This is the unused credit you have over in all of your accounts. While this number is not as important as the utilization ratio, as long as you aren’t maxing out all your credit limit, it’s OK for this number to be big.
You can see the current numbers for these six factors listed on your credit score page. However, if you want to see them in more detail, click on Explore factor details to see how each factor affects your credit score.
Free Chase Credit Journey Alerts
The Chase Credit Journey tool also provides free credit alerts to ensure that you are aware of any changes to your credit standing. This is helpful if you are concerned about identity theft. You will get alerts on the following:
- New credit inquiry
- Newly opened accounts
- Any address change
- New public records on your credit report
- Change in account status
- Notices on delinquent accounts
- Fraudulent alerts
The Chase Credit Journey tool also suggests helpful actions to take based on the alert. This is useful amidst any type of fraud activity.
FAQ
A service of Chase Bank that is being used to check and monitor any individual’s credit score.
Open your browser from whatever device you’re using and go to the Chase Credit Journey official website. Fill in all the required personal information plus your mobile number. Type in only the last four digits of your Social Security Number. Check and agree to the terms and conditions of the site. Click Continue.
Go to the official website and fill in the necessary information. Put in the last four digits of your social security number and check the terms and conditions. Press continue and wait for the page to load.
It notifies you of the happenings in your credit score.
You’ll need to log in to your Chase online account, scroll down until you see “Your credit score” on the left side. Click on Free score, updated weekly to access Chase Credit Journey.
The good news is the credit score is updated weekly and it is free. Bad news: it’s only a single score from one bureau.
Chase Credit Journey provides free credit alerts to ensure that you are aware of any changes to your credit standing. This is helpful if you are concerned about identity theft.
A credit score is a figure used to evaluate a person’s creditworthiness and is based on his or her credit history. Creditors use credit scores to evaluate an individual’s ability to repay his debts. A person’s credit score ranges from 300 to the highest of 850 (FICO) or from 500 to 990 (VantageScore). The higher the score, the more “financially trustworthy” a person is.
There are five main factors being evaluated when calculating a credit score:
– Payment history
– Total amount owed
– Length of credit history
– Types of credit
– New credit
– VantageScore can be produced with just a month or two while FICO scores require six months of credit history.
– Some consumers who can’t be scored by most FICO models because of limited credit history can still get a VantageScore.
– Allows 14 days for rate-shopping for a car or mortgage, compared with 45 days for FICO.
– VantageScore makes allowances for consumers who are affected by natural disasters.
Conclusion
The Chase Credit Journey is a Chase Bank programme that may be used to check and manage a person’s credit score. A credit score of 700 or above, on the other hand, is generally considered favourable and may result in a cheaper interest rate. Borrowers pay less interest as a result.
Have you used the Chase Credit Journey before? Tell us about your favourite or most useful features. Please share your experience in the comments box below so that others might benefit from it.
If you’re unsure how to get your credit score, you might be eligible for a free credit score check through Chase Credit Journey. Although there isn’t much of a difference between credit score providers, learning how credit scores are calculated will help you comprehend what these phrases represent.
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