Credit terms, defined

Clear, plain-language definitions of the credit concepts used across this site.

Credit Reports

3 Credit Bureaus The 3 credit bureaus are the three largest nationwide consumer reporting companies in the United States: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Annual Credit Report The Annual Credit Report is the free file disclosure that the nationwide consumer reporting companies must provide to consumers upon request, coordinated through AnnualCreditReport.com.
Credit Bureau A credit bureau, more formally known as a consumer reporting agency, is a company that gathers information about consumers' credit and payment history and sells it in the form of credit reports to lenders, landlords, employers, and other parties with a permissible purpose.
Credit Report A credit report is a record of a consumer's borrowing and repayment history, maintained by a credit reporting company, that lists credit accounts, balances, payment history, collection accounts, bankruptcy filings, and inquiries made by businesses that have a permissible purpose to see it.
Free Credit Report A free credit report is a no-cost copy of a consumer's credit file, either a file disclosure the consumer is entitled to under federal law or a report a company provides as part of its own product or trial offer.

Credit Profiles

A Credit Utilization Ratio A credit utilization ratio is the amount of revolving credit a consumer is using divided by the total revolving credit available to them, usually expressed as a percentage.
Credit Builder A credit builder is a financial product or account that reports a consumer's payment activity to credit reporting companies, typically used to establish a credit history.
Credit Builder Card A credit builder card is a type of credit card, often secured or with a low credit limit, marketed to consumers with limited or no credit history, which may report account activity to national credit reporting companies.
Credit Builder Loan A credit builder loan is an installment loan in which the borrowed funds are held in a savings account or similar account and released to the borrower after the loan is repaid, with payments typically reported to national credit reporting companies.
Self Credit Builder A Self Credit Builder is a type of credit-builder account, often structured as an installment loan or secured deposit account, in which a consumer makes scheduled payments that are reported to national credit reporting companies.

Credit Score

A Good Credit Score A good credit score is a relative label for a score that meets or exceeds a particular lender's or scoring model's threshold for a specific purpose, not a single universal number.
Credit Score A credit score is a numerical representation of the information in a consumer's credit file, calculated by scoring models to help lenders assess credit risk.
Credit Score Check A credit score check is the retrieval of a numeric or categorized score that a scoring model has calculated from the information contained in a consumer's credit file.
Credit Score Range A credit score range is a defined interval of numerical values that a scoring model uses to group credit scores into descriptive categories such as poor, fair, good, very good, or excellent.
Free Credit Score A numerical representation of a consumer's creditworthiness, often provided at no cost by various financial institutions, credit reporting companies, or third-party services, distinct from the free credit reports available by law.

Credit Checks

Business Credit Check A business credit check is a review of a company's credit report, typically performed by lenders, suppliers, or landlords to evaluate the business's financial reliability and payment history.
Credit Check A credit check is a review of a consumer's credit report, typically performed by a lender, landlord, employer, or other entity with a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Credit Credit Check A credit credit check is an inquiry into a consumer's credit report by a party with a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, often performed to assess creditworthiness for credit, employment, insurance, or other authorized reasons.
Free Credit Check A marketing term for a no-cost review of credit information, most reliably referring to the free credit reports that consumers may obtain from each nationwide credit reporting company through AnnualCreditReport.com.
Soft Credit Check A soft credit check, also called a soft inquiry, is a review of a consumer's credit report that is recorded but is not factored into the credit-scoring models that lenders commonly use for decisions.

Identity Theft

Credit Fraud Credit fraud is the unauthorized use of another person's identity or credit account information to obtain credit, goods, or services, or to make charges that the account holder did not authorize.
Credit Fraud Alert A credit fraud alert is a notice placed on a consumer report at the consumer's request that directs businesses to take reasonable steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending credit.
Credit Fraud Protection Credit fraud protection is the set of legal rights, account controls, monitoring practices, and resolution procedures intended to prevent, detect, and address unauthorized use of a person's credit information or credit accounts.
Fraud Alert on Credit Report A fraud alert is a notice placed on a credit report that directs businesses to take reasonable steps to verify a person's identity before extending credit.

Credit Freezes

Credit Freeze A credit freeze (also called a security freeze) is a restriction placed on a consumer's credit file at each national credit reporting company that prevents most lenders and other entities from accessing the file without the consumer's express authorization.
Credit Freeze Equifax A credit freeze placed with Equifax, a nationwide consumer reporting company, restricts access to the Equifax consumer report unless the consumer lifts or removes the freeze or an exception under the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies.
Freeze Credit Experian The act of placing a security freeze on a consumer's credit file maintained by Experian, one of the national credit reporting companies, which restricts most third-party access to that file for credit, insurance, or employment purposes.
Unfreeze Credit The process of removing or temporarily lifting a security freeze placed on a consumer's credit file at a nationwide credit reporting company, so that third parties with a permissible purpose may access the file again.
Unfreeze Credit Experian The process of lifting or removing a security freeze placed on a consumer's Experian credit file, either temporarily or permanently.

Credit Locks

Credit Lock Equifax A Credit Lock Equifax is a company-specific, account-based control offered by Equifax that restricts access to a consumer's Equifax credit file under the company's own terms of service, as distinct from the statutory security freeze established by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Greylock Credit Greylock Credit is an unbranded, non-statutory name that appears in some consumer-facing credit material, usually attached to a credit lock or credit monitoring feature rather than to any product defined in federal consumer credit law.
Lock Credit A credit lock is a feature offered by some credit reporting companies that allows a consumer to restrict access to their credit report, typically through a mobile app or online account, but it is a contractual service rather than a statutory right like a security freeze.
Lock Credit File A credit file lock is a voluntary restriction offered by a national credit reporting company that limits access to a consumer's credit file and is similar in practical effect to a security freeze.
Unlock Experian Credit Unlock Experian Credit refers to a consumer lifting or removing a security freeze placed on a credit file maintained by Experian so that third parties may access the file, either temporarily or permanently.

Credit Monitoring

Credit Monitoring A service that observes activity in a consumer's credit files at one or more national credit reporting companies and sends alerts about certain changes.
Credit Monitoring Companies Private companies that track changes to a consumer's credit files at one or more national credit reporting companies and provide alerts about those changes.
Credit Monitoring Services Credit monitoring services are commercial products that observe activity in a consumer's credit files and send alerts about certain changes, such as new inquiries, new accounts, or updates to existing tradelines.
Free Credit Monitoring A service that notifies a consumer about certain changes to their credit file or personal information, often at no cost but with limitations.
IDX Credit Monitoring IDX Credit Monitoring is a product label for credit-monitoring services distributed under the IDX brand name, most often reached through an employer benefits portal, an association membership, or an enrollment code included in a data-breach notification letter.