A lot of people have been asking where they can get a free credit report with no credit card required. As a matter of fact the number of people who search for this on Google alone is about 2,900 per month.

There is a bit of confusion. The thing that mostly requires a credit card is a copy of your credit score. First let’s talk about the difference and then how to get them.

Your credit report is a very detailed list of your credit history. It will tell all about who you owe money to and how much. It tells of late payments, amount of credit that you have and how many inquiries into your credit there have been. There are 3 credit report agencies. They are:

Equifax: 1-877-576-5734     www.equifax.com
Experian: 1-888-397-3742    www.experian.com
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289  www.transunion.com

You are entitled by law to get 1 free report per year. There is also a central site where you can access all 3. It is AnnualCreditReport.com. They should have the same information, but not always. If you need to know for sure what is reported because you are getting ready to make a large loan request, you should get all three. Then you will know what is on there before you request the loan. You may also dispute anything that you do not agree with. If you find something out of whack, you could review it with the company that you are requesting the loan from for a good course of action.

If you are just monitoring the reports for problems or fraud, I would suggest getting one from each agency spread 4 months apart. That way you will not have to wait for a year to see it again.

If you are looking to see your credit score, that is a different animal. That is information mostly used by lenders to determine what types of loans you can get and what interest rate you will pay. The information is based off of the information contained in your credit report.

Here is how it breaks down:

Payment History: 35%   If you have been making your payments on time you have nothing to worry about.

Current Debt: 30%  How much you owe versus how much you make.

Length of Time You Have Had Credit: 15%  Not much you can do about this. The older you get, the better it gets.

Type and Amount of Credit: 10%  How much credit do you have available. Too little or too much can hurt you.

Number of Inquires Into Your Credit Report: 10%  This could be a sign that you are getting ready to do too many things at once. Lenders do not like this. Your inquires do not count against you.

There are some places that monitor your credit reports and alert you of changes. Most of them charge an average of $15.00 per month. They will tell you your score. But beware of scams. NEVER give your credit card information online unless it is a secure site. The address will start with a https: instead of http:.  And make sure that it is a reliable company. Do some searches for the name of the company to see if there are any complaints.

So if you are looking for a free credit report with no credit card required, they are yours for the asking. Your credit score is a different story. But do you need to know that number? Probably not. You can look at the information in your credit report and the formula used to determine the score and figure out what kind of shape you are in.

Take good care of your credit. It is more valuable than you know. More about that later.