Infographic: Who’s checking your credit score?
by Juan Rodriguez and Kristie Aronow, creditcards.com
When it comes to which types of companies may check your credit score before approving you for their products or services, many consumers are in the dark.
In April, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and VantageScore Solutions conducted the third annual survey testing consumer knowledge about credit scores, contacting participants by phone, and 1,022 adults answered the survey.
While 94 percent of consumers said they know that making credit card payments on time will help raise their credit score, the study found most consumers don’t realize who may be evaluating their credit score to measure their creditworthiness.
When participants were asked if electric utility companies, cellphone companies, home insurers, landlords, credit card issuers and mortgage lenders consider credit scores, only 29 percent answered correctly that each may analyze their score.
The most surprising result? Only 60 percent of respondents said they knew credit card issuers check their credit scores and only 58 percent realized that mortgage lenders consider credit scores during the mortgage application process.