FYI: Only Get Your Free Credit Reports without a Credit Card
There are many important reasons for checking your credit report. Many companies know you are desperate for this information and want to take advantage of the situation. That is why you should only get your free credit report without credit cards.
Unless you are under the advisement of a professional financial advisor or you know exactly what company you are paying and why—there is absolutely no reason you would ever need to enter your credit card information to get your report.
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You should always get a free credit report without credit card information to be safe.
That is why we have created this guide on how to get your free annual credit report without credit cards. You will learn:
- What a credit report is
- Why you may need one
- Why it is so important for your safety to only get a free credit report without credit card information
- Which companies offer free credit reports without a credit card
- Why you may want to only get one free annual credit report without credit cards throughout the year
- Why you may want to get all three free credit reports without a credit card at one time
Once you have gone through this guide, you will understand all the basics you need to know to get your free credit report without a credit card today.
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What Is a Credit Report?
- Every time you open a line of credit or take out a loan, it goes on your credit report.
- Every time you make a payment on that credit card or loan, it goes on your credit report.
- Every time you miss a payment on that credit card or loan, it goes on your credit report.
This means your free annual credit report without credit cards will have a roundup of the following information:
- Companies that have given you credit cards or loans
- Amounts of the loans or credit limits
- How often you pay
- How often you do not pay
- Any time you have gone bankrupt
A free annual credit report without credit cards is not the same thing as a credit score. You can order your credit scores separately from the three companies we will talk about below. But the credit free credit reports without a credit card will not include them.
Why Do You Need to Check Your Credit Report?
There are two main reasons to check your free credit report without credit card information each year.
The first, basic reason to check your free credit report without credit cards is to know how well you are doing in building your credit and managing your finances. This can also be helpful before making any purchases.
Also when you check your free credit reports without a credit card, you can see if there is a mistake or if somebody may be committing identity theft with your social security number. The sooner you find the mistake or the identity theft, the sooner you can get it removed from your free credit report without credit cards.
Due to the fact that checking a free credit report without a credit card is so valuable, the United States government has made it mandatory that three reporting agencies offer you a free annual credit report without credit cards each year.
We will discuss how to get each free annual credit report without credit cards in detail later on.
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Why Get a Free Credit Report without Credit Cards?
So why is it important that we are focusing on only getting a free annual credit report without credit cards?
Because many fake, phony websites ask you to enter your credit card information before getting a “free” credit report.
Think about it this way: if a company asks for your credit card information, they want access to your money. Ask yourself why they still need your credit card if the websites claim that they are free. Many times, it is because they are not really free.
However, you absolutely can get a credit report free without credit card information.
The truth is the legitimate credit reporting agencies will give you a free credit report without a credit card. We will show you to get a free credit report without credit cards below.
How to Get Your Free Annual Credit Report without Credit Cards
If you want to get your free credit report without credit card information, you should head on over to the website AnnualCreditReport.com.
Image Source: Annual Credit Report
This is the only federally authorized website to give you your free credit reports without a credit card. If another website is advertising to do the same thing, simply ignore it and move on over to AnnualCreditReport.com.
Here you will be able to access a credit report free without credit card from each of the three main national credit-reporting agencies:
- Experian
- TransUnion
- Equifax
Before you can ever get one or more free annual credit report without credit cards, you will need to fill out a request form online at AnnualCreditReport.com.
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Filling Out a Request to Get Your Free Credit Report without Credit Cards
There is only one form you have to fill out that leads you to any of the three free credit reports without a credit card. Simply click on “Request your free credit reports” and you will be on your way.
Since each is a free credit report without credit card information, you will obviously not have to enter a credit card. But there is plenty of information they do need:
- Your legal name
- Your birthday
- Your social security number
- Your current United States address
- Your previous United States address (if you lived in the first for less than 2 years)
Next they will ask for some verification information before they can give you your credit report free without credit card info.
Most of the time this will be a confirmation of your social security number as well as verifying certain actions that may be on your free credit report without credit cards. You will have multiple-choice options.
Examples of this include:
- Naming who your auto loan is through
- Naming who your student loan is through
- Naming who your store credit card is through
- Naming who your bank credit card is through
Once they have verified that you are who you say you are, you have access to one, two, or three of the free credit reports without a credit card.
Reasons to Check One Credit Report at a Time
After you have filled out your information to get your free credit report without credit card information, you can choose how many of the credit reports you want to see.
Remember that you only get one free credit report without a credit card each year from each company. So deciding when to get them each year is an important decision.
Here are some reasons you may want to check one free annual credit report without credit cards at a time (Example: One in January, one in June, one in September):
- You want to keep tabs on your credit throughout the year
- You want to catch the possibility of identity theft more frequently
- You are not about to make a huge purchase (like a home)
Most of the time, getting your free credit reports without a credit card at different times throughout the year is the best decision.
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Reasons to Check More Than One Credit Report at a Time
Keep in mind there are still some reasons that you will want to see all of your free credit reports without a credit card at the same time.
Image Source: Annual Credit Report
Here is why: each free annual credit report without credit cards will not be completely identical.
It is possible that one free credit report will have information from one lender, but not another—and vice versa.
If you are about to make a huge purchase, like a house, and absolutely need to be confident in knowing what is on your credit report, you may want to get all three free credit reports without a credit card.
When you see what is on all three free credit reports without a credit card, you can make a big financial decision with the confidence of knowing there are no major problems with your credit.
Now that you know each free credit report without credit cards can be different, let’s see what each of the three companies is all about.
Experian Free Credit Reports
When you get your free annual credit report without credit cards from Experian, you should know more about the company. Here are the highlights of getting your credit report free without credit card info from Experian.
- Founded in: 1996
- Headquartered in: Dublin, Republic of Ireland
- Revenue: 4.81 billion USD (2015)
- FICO score range: 300 to 850
Get your Experian credit report free without credit card information every 12 months.
TransUnion Free Credit Reports
When you get your free TransUnion credit report without a credit card, you should know more about the company. Here’s a basic rundown.
- Founded in: 1968
- Headquartered in: Chicago, Illinois
- Revenue: 1.3 billion USD (2014)
- FICO score range: 300 to 850
Get your free TransUnion credit report without a credit card every 12 months.
Equifax Free Credit Reports
When you get your Equifax free credit report without credit cards, you should know more about the company. Here is what you should know.
- Founded in: 1899
- Headquartered in: Atlanta, Georgia
- Revenue: 2.304 billion USD (2013)
- FICO score range: 300 to 850
Get your Equifax free credit report without credit cards every 12 months.
Reporting Problems
When you receive your free annual credit report without credit cards, you may notice there is a mistake, or you may suspect somebody is using your identity to open credit cards or loans.
In either case, you can file a dispute to each of the credit reporting agencies. They can research your dispute, help you remove the inaccurate information, or remove the identity theft.
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Conclusion—Your Credit Report Free without Credit Card
Those are the basics of getting a free credit report without credit cards. Now you know you are entitled to the following:
- One Experian free credit report without a credit card each year
- One free TransUnion credit report without a credit card each year
- One Equifax free credit report without credit cards each year
You also know that it is imperative to only choose to get these free credit reports without a credit card from AnnualCreditReport.com, so you do not have to enter any credit card information and can avoid scams.
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