Understanding your credit score
Understand your credit score
The term credit score gets a lot of buzz and may leave you wondering why it all matters.
Simply put, your credit score is a number that summarizes your credit report and helps lenders determine your likelihood to repay a loan.
How to check your credit score
You’ll want to make sure your credit reports are accurate and up to date before you apply for a mortgage.
Check your credit score and credit report for free once every 12 months at each of the 3 major credit-reporting agencies, or use Chase Credit Journey to regularly track your score and learn about the actions you can take to improve it.
Here's how to contact each of the 3 major credit-reporting agencies:

Use Chase Credit Journey to monitor your financial health
Stay up to date with your credit info using our free Chase credit journey service, which offers:
- Unlimited access to your VantageScore and credit report
- Alerts about critical changes to your credit report
- A score simulator that helps you identify how financial decisions will affect your credit
Please note: Your VantageScore is an informational credit score and may vary from a FICO® Score provided by credit reporting agencies. Decisions about your loan application will likely be made using your FICO credit score, as well as other information you provide.

Credit Score for a Home Loan
Improving your credit score can help in the process of getting approved for your mortgage. Learn more here.
A strong credit score may help you get a mortgage – see how you can improve yours.