All Consumers members can check their credit score at any time—at no charge—within Online Banking.

If your name is James Smith, you share a moniker with 38,312 other James Smiths. If you go by Maria Hernandez, you’re one of 27,836 individuals with the same name. On the surface, facts like these (supplied by Ancestry) are entertaining. However, one of our members recently found out that sharing a name with someone else can affect your credit report.

When Consumers member Emily Johnson recently received a notice of a credit inquiry from Consumers’ credit score feature, she saw a “hard pull” on her credit report. A hard pull only happens when you apply for credit—like for a vehicle loan, home loan or credit card. This caught Emily’s attention because she hadn’t done anything to trigger a hard pull.

The first thing Emily did was reach out to us for help. The Consumers team quickly discovered what initiated the hard pull: another “Emily Johnson” had applied for a mortgage. The team was able to give Emily step-by-step instructions on how to resolve the matter and get the hard pull cleared from her credit report as quickly as possible.

Checking credit scores is free for Consumers members

We encourage everyone to be proactive like Emily and regularly check your credit score. In fact, we believe it’s so important, we make it free for Consumers members!

You can see your credit score 24/7 by logging in to Online Banking. If you’re a first-time user of the credit score feature through Savvy Money, you’ll need to click on the “Get My Credit Score” dashboard widget inside Online Banking. Once the widget is activated, it’s available every time you log in to Online Banking. Here’s more info on how to check your credit score for free.

Checking your credit score through Online Banking doesn’t affect your credit score, but it does allow you to monitor your credit. If you identify credit bureau errors, including ones like Emily experienced, you can act quickly to get them corrected. Also, tracing your credit score can help you understand your credit health, help to make improvements in your score and ways you can save money on loans with Consumers.

 

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