What Is a Bank Credit Score?

Quick Answer

If your bank or credit union provides you a credit score, you can use it to understand how creditors will see you. The credit score your bank shows may not be the same one a lender uses, but it can be a good starting point.

Many banks and credit unions provide credit scores to account holders and credit card customers. This is a useful benefit, but to make the most of it, it's important to understand the nature of the score you're seeing, and how it may relate to the scores lenders use to evaluate your creditworthiness.

Which Credit Scores Do Banks Use?

Credit scores provided by banks include the following, all of which are calculated using credit report data sourced from one of the three national credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion or Equifax). The bureau that provided your credit data should be indicated along with the score.

Generic credit scores: These scores, which many lenders use in lending decisions, include versions of the FICO^® Score^☉ that assign scores on a scale of 300 to 850; VantageScore^® versions 3.0 and 4.0, which also use a scale range of 300 to 850; and VantageScore versions 1.0 or 2.0, which assign scores on a scale of 501 to 990. With all credit scores, higher numbers indicate a greater degree of creditworthiness.
FICO Bankcard Score: If you receive your credit score from your bank's online credit card dashboard or smartphone app, you may see a FICO Bankcard score, which uses a scale of 250 to 900. The Bankcard score is tailored to predict the likelihood you will pay your credit card bills. Many credit card issuers use this score in decisions about credit applications.
FICO^® Score NG: Some lenders use this version of the FICO^® Score, which assigns scores on a range of 150 to 950, in their lending decisions.

While less common than they were a decade ago, certain credit scores may be calculated by a bank or another business (not FICO or VantageScore) that are proprietary or assign a unique scale range. Lenders do not use these scores when making credit decisions, but consumers can use them to track improvements in creditworthiness.

Can I Trust the Score From My Bank?

Yes, you can trust credit scores reported by your financial institution. They will accurately reflect your credit history as it appears on the credit report upon which the score is based. To reiterate, however, the credit score your bank provides for free may not be the same one a lender will use when considering your application for credit.

Note that it can take several weeks for lenders to report changes in your credit status to the credit bureaus. So if, for instance, you pay down a high credit card balance today, it might take a month or so for that to be reflected in your credit reports, and thus in credit scores derived from them.

Should I Check My Credit Score Elsewhere Before Applying for Credit?

For purposes of tracking overall credit standing, regularly checking your FICO^® Score or VantageScore will give you a good idea of your progress. When you're ready to apply for a loan or credit card, a more comprehensive approach may give you a better idea how lenders will likely view your application.

There's no way of knowing for certain which scoring system (or which version of it) a given lender will use, nor which credit bureau(s) it will use to source your credit history. Nevertheless, checking a generic credit score based on your credit report maintained at each of the three credit bureaus will give you a good idea where you stand.

While lenders of all kinds use generic credit scores in their lending decisions, some use specialized industry scores available from FICO.

Credit card lenders may use the FICO Bankcard Score. It is designed to predict likelihood of repaying credit card debt, and uses a scale range of 250 to 900.
Auto financers may use the FICO Auto Score. Like the Bankcard Score, it uses a score range of 250 to 900, but it is calibrated to predict likelihood of repaying auto loans.

Mortgage lenders issuing conforming loans eligible for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are currently required by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to use "classic" FICO^® Scores:

FICO^® Score 2, derived using Experian credit reports
FICO^® Score 4, based on TransUnion credit reports
FICO^® Score 5, calculated using Equifax credit data

Beginning in late 2024, FHFA has instructed mortgage lenders to begin phasing in the use of newer FICO^® Score 10T and VantageScore 4.0 when evaluating borrowers for conforming loans.

How to Check Your Credit Score

You can likely obtain free generic credit scores from all three credit bureaus by mixing and matching what's available from your financial institution with other free services.

Both FICO and VantageScore maintain lists of free score providers. For instance, Experian provides access to your Experian credit reports and the FICO^® Score 8 based upon your Experian credit score for free.

If you'd like to check your FICO Auto or Bankcard scores, consider signing up for an Experian Premium membership.

Can I Get My Credit Report Through My Bank?

No, you can't get your credit report from a bank. The credit scores financial institutions offer are based on the information in credit reports, but those credit reports exist separately and are maintained by the three national credit bureaus.

To be sure your scores accurately reflect your credit history, it's important to check your credit reports regularly for inaccuracies and signs of unauthorized activity that could signify identity theft or credit fraud. If you find anything you believe to be amiss on your credit report, you have the right to file a dispute with the relevant credit bureau to have it corrected.

Checking your credit reports won't affect your credit scores.

How to Check Your Credit Report

You can get credit reports from:

The national credit bureaus: You can access your Experian report for free and also check your FICO^® Score 8 based on Experian data for free.
AnnualCreditReport.com: You have the right to access your credit reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com.

How to Improve Your Credit Score

If you've been tracking your credit score through your financial institution without seeing improvement, you may need to adopt some new habits to increase your scores. Fortunately, actions that increase any given credit score will tend to bring improvement to all, since the same general factors contribute to all credit scores.

Steps to improving your credit scores can vary according to your credit history and current situation, but tried-and-true approaches include:

Make payments on time. Payment history is the single most important influence on your FICO^® Score, the score used by 90% of top lenders. Timely debt payments will tend to raise your scores, while just one payment that's 30 days or more overdue can cause a dramatic score drop. If you've missed a payment in the past, its negative effects will lessen over time, but working to make all payments on time will give you the best opportunity for improvement.
Reduce revolving debt. Credit utilization ratio measures the outstanding balances on your credit cards and other revolving accounts. It's expressed as a percentage of your borrowing limits, and is another major factor contributing to credit scores. A general guideline is to keep utilization under 30%, but the lower your utilization, the better for your scores.
Check your credit reports. Inaccuracies in your credit reports are relatively rare, but they can hurt your credit scores. Check your credit reports regularly and if you find any discrepancies, such as a reported late payment you made on time or an account you didn't apply for, you can dispute them with the credit bureau on whose credit report the information appears.
Pay off collections. Debts that have been turned over to collection departments or agencies appear as negative entries on your credit reports and can seriously hurt your scores. Paying off these accounts may make you look better to lenders, since some newer credit scoring models (such as FICO^® Score 9 and VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0) ignore paid-off collection accounts.
Seek new credit only as needed. Credit applications generate credit report entries called hard inquiries that may cause slight reductions in your credit scores. Scores typically recover within a few months if you keep up with debt payments, but multiple hard inquiries for different types of credit in close succession can have a cumulative negative effect on your scores.
Consider Experian Boost^®^ø. Enrolling in the free Experian Boost feature can add on-time payments for recurring expenses to your Experian credit report. By sharing payment information on utility and cellphone bills, streaming subscriptions and rent (if paid online), you can see instant improvement to FICO^® Scores based on Experian credit data.

The Bottom Line

Checking credit scores through your bank can be a great way to track your progress at building your credit—or rebuilding it after a mishap or mistake that brought your scores down. By checking your free Experian credit report, you can help ensure the ongoing accuracy of your scores. With time and good credit habits, you can expect your score to show steady improvement.

How Good Is Your Credit Score?

300 credit score 301 credit score 302 credit score 303 credit score 304 credit score 305 credit score 306 credit score 307 credit score 308 credit score 309 credit score 310 credit score 311 credit score 312 credit score 313 credit score 314 credit score 315 credit score 316 credit score 317 credit score 318 credit score 319 credit score 320 credit score 321 credit score 322 credit score 323 credit score 324 credit score 325 credit score 326 credit score 327 credit score 328 credit score 329 credit score 330 credit score 331 credit score 332 credit score 333 credit score 334 credit score 335 credit score 336 credit score 337 credit score 338 credit score 339 credit score 340 credit score 341 credit score 342 credit score 343 credit score 344 credit score 345 credit score 346 credit score 347 credit score 348 credit score 349 credit score 350 credit score 351 credit score 352 credit score 353 credit score 354 credit score 355 credit score 356 credit score 357 credit score 358 credit score 359 credit score 360 credit score 361 credit score 362 credit score 363 credit score 364 credit score 365 credit score 366 credit score 367 credit score 368 credit score 369 credit score 370 credit score 371 credit score 372 credit score 373 credit score 374 credit score 375 credit score 376 credit score 377 credit score 378 credit score 379 credit score 380 credit score 381 credit score 382 credit score 383 credit score 384 credit score 385 credit score 386 credit score 387 credit score 388 credit score 389 credit score 390 credit score 391 credit score 392 credit score 393 credit score 394 credit score 395 credit score 396 credit score 397 credit score 398 credit score 399 credit score 400 credit score 401 credit score 402 credit score 403 credit score 404 credit score 405 credit score 406 credit score 407 credit score 408 credit score 409 credit score 410 credit score 411 credit score 412 credit score 413 credit score 414 credit score 415 credit score 416 credit score 417 credit score 418 credit score 419 credit score 420 credit score 421 credit score 422 credit score 423 credit score 424 credit score 425 credit score 426 credit score 427 credit score 428 credit score 429 credit score 430 credit score 431 credit score 432 credit score 433 credit score 434 credit score 435 credit score 436 credit score 437 credit score 438 credit score 439 credit score 440 credit score 441 credit score 442 credit score 443 credit score 444 credit score 445 credit score 446 credit score 447 credit score 448 credit score 449 credit score 450 credit score 451 credit score 452 credit score 453 credit score 454 credit score 455 credit score 456 credit score 457 credit score 458 credit score 459 credit score 460 credit score 461 credit score 462 credit score 463 credit score 464 credit score 465 credit score 466 credit score 467 credit score 468 credit score 469 credit score 470 credit score 471 credit score 472 credit score 473 credit score 474 credit score 475 credit score 476 credit score 477 credit score 478 credit score 479 credit score 480 credit score 481 credit score 482 credit score 483 credit score 484 credit score 485 credit score 486 credit score 487 credit score 488 credit score 489 credit score 490 credit score 491 credit score 492 credit score 493 credit score 494 credit score 495 credit score 496 credit score 497 credit score 498 credit score 499 credit score 500 credit score 501 credit score 502 credit score 503 credit score 504 credit score 505 credit score 506 credit score 507 credit score 508 credit score 509 credit score 510 credit score 511 credit score 512 credit score 513 credit score 514 credit score 515 credit score 516 credit score 517 credit score 518 credit score 519 credit score 520 credit score 521 credit score 522 credit score 523 credit score 524 credit score 525 credit score 526 credit score 527 credit score 528 credit score 529 credit score 530 credit score 531 credit score 532 credit score 533 credit score 534 credit score 535 credit score 536 credit score 537 credit score 538 credit score 539 credit score 540 credit score 541 credit score 542 credit score 543 credit score 544 credit score 545 credit score 546 credit score 547 credit score 548 credit score 549 credit score 550 credit score 551 credit score 552 credit score 553 credit score 554 credit score 555 credit score 556 credit score 557 credit score 558 credit score 559 credit score 560 credit score 561 credit score 562 credit score 563 credit score 564 credit score 565 credit score 566 credit score 567 credit score 568 credit score 569 credit score 570 credit score 571 credit score 572 credit score 573 credit score 574 credit score 575 credit score 576 credit score 577 credit score 578 credit score 579 credit score

580 credit score 581 credit score 582 credit score 583 credit score 584 credit score 585 credit score 586 credit score 587 credit score 588 credit score 589 credit score 590 credit score 591 credit score 592 credit score 593 credit score 594 credit score 595 credit score 596 credit score 597 credit score 598 credit score 599 credit score 600 credit score 601 credit score 602 credit score 603 credit score 604 credit score 605 credit score 606 credit score 607 credit score 608 credit score 609 credit score 610 credit score 611 credit score 612 credit score 613 credit score 614 credit score 615 credit score 616 credit score 617 credit score 618 credit score 619 credit score 620 credit score 621 credit score 622 credit score 623 credit score 624 credit score 625 credit score 626 credit score 627 credit score 628 credit score 629 credit score 630 credit score 631 credit score 632 credit score 633 credit score 634 credit score 635 credit score 636 credit score 637 credit score 638 credit score 639 credit score 640 credit score 641 credit score 642 credit score 643 credit score 644 credit score 645 credit score 646 credit score 647 credit score 648 credit score 649 credit score 650 credit score 651 credit score 652 credit score 653 credit score 654 credit score 655 credit score 656 credit score 657 credit score 658 credit score 659 credit score 660 credit score 661 credit score 662 credit score 663 credit score 664 credit score 665 credit score 666 credit score 667 credit score 668 credit score 669 credit score

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What Is a Bank Credit Score?

In this article:

Which Credit Scores Do Banks Use?

Can I Trust the Score From My Bank?

Should I Check My Credit Score Elsewhere Before Applying for Credit?

How to Check Your Credit Score

Can I Get My Credit Report Through My Bank?

How to Check Your Credit Report

How to Improve Your Credit Score

The Bottom Line

What Makes a Good Credit Score?

How Good Is Your Credit Score?

Resources

Latest Research

Latest Reviews

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Most popular

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Credit scores

Improving credit

Establishing credit

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In this article:

Which Credit Scores Do Banks Use?

Can I Trust the Score From My Bank?

Should I Check My Credit Score Elsewhere Before Applying for Credit?

How to Check Your Credit Score

Can I Get My Credit Report Through My Bank?

How to Check Your Credit Report

How to Improve Your Credit Score

The Bottom Line

What Makes a Good Credit Score?

How Good Is Your Credit Score?

Resources

Latest Research

Latest Reviews