Discover Survey: Consumers Who Regularly Check Their Credit Score Say Doing So Improves Credit Behavior
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In addition, many survey respondents who said they checked their credit score during the prior year also reported improvements to their score. According to the survey, 76 percent of those who checked their score seven or more times during the previous 12 months said their score improved greatly or slightly over that same time period. A similar number, 72 percent, of those who checked their score four to six times throughout the year reported improvements to their score. While just 38 percent of those who checked their score once over 12 months said their score improved.
"Checking your credit score is one of the simplest things that anyone can do to get on the path to understanding their credit health," said
Everyone can check their FICO® Credit Score and personalized credit profile for free, including those who are not Discover customers, by going to Discover.com/CreditScorecard. Many underestimate the broad impact of their credit standing The survey also shed light on consumers' understanding of how credit impacts their lives. The majority of those surveyed, 74 percent, said their credit standing was important to them. An even greater number, 82 percent, said they were aware of their credit standing, if not their specific credit score. Just over half, 54 percent, felt their credit standing had an impact on their day-to-day life.
While most respondents, 81 percent, said their credit standing had a large impact on their ability to purchase a home, fewer thought it had as big of an impact on other important matters that could be affected by one's credit.
Getting a job: 64 percent thought their credit standing had little or no impact
Getting a favorable insurance rate: 47 percent thought their credit standing had little or no impact
Renting an apartment: 47 percent thought their credit standing had little or no impact
Getting a personal or student loan: 32 percent thought their credit standing had little or no impact
Getting a credit card: 29 percent thought their credit standing had little or no impact
Buying or leasing a car: 25 percent thought their credit standing had little or no impact Credit is personal to millennials Millennials, ages 18 to 34, who took part in the survey reported having a more personal connection to their credit compared to other generational groups. Nearly half of millennials, 46 percent, said they associate their credit standing with their self-worth, compared to 43 percent of generation X, ages 35 to 54, and 30 percent of baby boomers, ages 55 to 69. In addition, 64 percent of millennials said they associate their credit standing with their sense of freedom, compared to 56 percent of generation X and 40 percent of baby boomers.
Millennials also reported checking their credit score more frequently than their generational counterparts. Among those surveyed, 40 percent of millennials said they checked their score at least four times within the past year, compared to 30 percent of generation X and 25 percent of baby boomers who checked as often.
The majority of millennials who checked their credit score within the past year, 57 percent, said the biggest motivator to check their score was to improve or maintain it, compared to 47 percent of generation X and 37 percent of baby boomers who were similarly motivated.
"We believe these survey findings are in line with trends and behaviors we've seen since 2013 when we became the first major credit card issuer to offer FICO® Credit Scores for free to our cardmembers on their monthly statements and online," said Loeger. "Familiarity with your credit score could have a meaningful impact on your credit behavior. With Credit Scorecard, we've made it possible for everyone to check their FICO® Score for free."
For more information about Credit Scorecard, visit Discover.com/CreditScorecard. About the Survey The national survey of 2,000 consumers ages 18 and over was commissioned by Discover and conducted in
FICO® Credit Scores provided by Credit Scorecard are based on data from
Keywords for this news article include: Finance and Investment, Investment and Finance,
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