How Often Do Credit Scores and Credit Reports Update?

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How often do credit scores update?
- Which scoring company was used. FICO and VantageScore consider much the same credit score factors but weight them a bit differently.
- Which credit bureau supplied the credit report information. Not every creditor reports to all three major credit bureaus, so your report data varies at each.
- What the score will be used for — a credit card, mortgage or car loan, for example. Most scores use a range of 300-850 but some specialty scores have different ranges.
How often do credit reports update?
How to check your credit reports
- Pay on time every time.
- Use credit cards lightly, keeping balances no higher than 30%.
- Keep cards open unless you have a compelling reason to close them.
- Space credit applications at least 6 months apart if you can.
- Consider using both loans and credit cards.

Big credit score swings
- A late payment: Falling behind on a bill payment by 30 days or more could cause your score to take a big hit. Late payments stay on your credit report for seven years and have a powerful effect on your score. If you've fallen behind with one of your accounts, do your best to get current as soon as you can. A 60-day delinquency is worse than a 30-day delinquency, and a 90-day delinquency is worse still, so it pays to get back into good standing quickly.
- Using more of your credit limit: Another major influence on your score is your credit utilization, or how much of your credit limits you're using. A spike in credit card debt will push up your utilization, which can drop your score. But the opposite is also true. If you use a big windfall to pay down credit card debt, your score can benefit. Opening a new credit card can also be a useful strategy for increasing lowering your overall credit utilization, but it's important to research eligibility requirements before you commit to a hard credit pull. Your score will change once the new balance is reported to the credit bureaus.