Chase Credit Journey

Chase Credit Journey

This is a free tool that is offered by Chase and allows you to check and keep track of your credit report and credit score.

I have explained more about the credit score in this article. Please take time to read it so you can better understand what I am about to discuss in this blog post.

The score on your chase credit journey is from Vantage score 3.0 by TransUnion. Again, in the article above, I have explained more about the vantage score, what it is, how it measures your credit score, and the different units available.

Now Vantage 3. by TransUnion is the same type of credit score that is provided by Credit Karma.

Before I proceed, however, let me define a few terms for you;

Credit Report

This refers to information that is usually collected by the main credit bureaus concerning you. This information includes your personal details, the amount of credit you have borrowed, your repayment history, any loans that are currently in arrears, and the total amount of unutilized credit you currently have.

There are many credit bureaus, but you only need to care about the information found in the three main ones which are Equifax TransUnion and Experian.

Credit history

This is the total number of active or closed accounts that you currently have. It will include loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc. It may also refer to the age of each of these accounts and the ratio of your credit utilization.

Your current account balances and current repayment history is also part of this history.

Credit score

This is a number with three digits, and it is used, to sum up, the information on your credit report. This means that your credit report is used to calculate your credit score. Most lenders use it in order to determine your creditworthiness. Credit scores are normally calculated by use of an algorithm that scoring agencies base on the information they have of your credit report.

The Score

There are 2 main types of credit score; The FICO score and the Vantage Score. As mentioned above, Chase Credit Journey uses the Vantage Score, but I shall explain both so you can understand better;

FICO score:

This is one of the most popular credit scores that lenders use. It was created by the Fair Isaac Corporation. It has a range of between 300-850.

According to FICO, if you have a score of 670 and above, you are considered to have good credit, but any score above 800 is perceived as exceptional.

Vantage Score:

This is a company that calculates your overall credit score. It was developed by the three main credit bureaus i.e. Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. They use a range of numbers between 300-850. A score of 700 from Vantage is considered good, and anything above 750 is excellent credit.

How can someone access the Chase Credit Journey?

How can someone access the Chase Credit Journey

In order to access and get your credit score, you will need to open an account with them, and log on to their website and scroll down in order to check for your credit score. This is displayed on the left side of the screen. You must also click on the button that says free score. It is updated weekly.

The page will automatically display your current credit score, and if you would like to access the previous scores, you can simply click on over time, in order to check your credit score over the last 6 months.

See Image below;

credit journey

Now, your chase credit journey will be based on 6 main points:

Payments – This refers to your late payments and your loan repayment history. If you are more than 30 days late on your loan installment, this will be reported as a late payment and will be included in your credit report.

The later your payments are, the lower your credit score shall become.

Age of the credit – This helps to analyze how responsible you have been with your credit over time. They are able to analyze your oldest accounts in terms of repayment history and whether or not you should have closed them or not.

Closing an old account could impact your overall score.

Credit utilization –

The utilization ratio is what is usually used to measure the overall limit on your card. Financial experts recommend that you keep your rate of utilization below 30%.

A higher ratio that that, lowers your overall score, and shows that you are living beyond your means with lots of debts. It also shows that you cannot be trusted when it comes to credit.

Say you have three credit cards, and each has a limit of about $20,000, and you have maxed out the first two, but the third one is at $12,000. This means that the first two are at 100% utilization while the third one is at 60%.

A high utilization rate says this about you;

  • That you are not earning enough to pay your bills.
  • That you are irresponsible with money.
  • That you have gotten in over your head and are in a mess.
  • You are making bad decisions.

Whether these points are true or not, it doesn’t matter. A high utilization rate will definitely lower your credit score.

Hard inquiries – this refers to the number of times inquiries have been made about your credit in the last two years. These are known as hard pulls, and they happen every time you open a new credit account, in order to either borrow a loan or apply for a new credit card.

If the number of inquiries on your report is more than 6 in one year, this is considered poor, but it doesn’t necessarily affect your credit score.

Total balance – This refers to the total amount you owe all of your creditors. While it is not wrong to have a huge credit balance, and it doesn’t necessarily affect your credit score. It is important to note that, the more the credit, the harder it will be for you to repay all of it on time.

As a result of too much credit, you will end up having late payments, and even non-payments that will negatively affect your credit score, and hence, it is advisable to only take out what you need, and if you can, start repaying as soon as possible, and avoid late payments.

Available credit – This refers to the amount of unused credit from all of your credit accounts. Now, this number isn’t as important as the utilization ratio. You may have plenty of credit, but, if you are not using all of it, your credit score shall be low.

The above are the main factors that Chase credit uses to determine your credit score, and if you look below your report, you shall find them listed. In order to see more explanations on this, click on the button written ‘explore more details'

main factors that Chase credit uses

All of the six points above are explained more in details;

payment history

The Score Simulator:

This is a fun tool that is available on the chase credit journey website. It enables you to understand how different factors affect your credit score.

When you click on this tool and scroll down, you will be able to see your current score as shown above, together with the simulated score. There will also be some factors listed below it, and when you manipulate these factors by changing one or two things, you shall be able to see how your score changes each time a factor is changed.

Mobile App:

If you have a chase personal account, you can sign on to their credit journey by using their mobile app. This is however for personal accounts only, and if you have a business account, you may not be able to access the mobile app at all;

Here's how it looks like;

FAQs of Chase Credit Journey

Can I also use the chase slate card?

Yes, this is a great balance transfer cards in the market today and if you have a chase slate card, you can also be able to access your FICO score. This is a free option.

It is great because you can also be able to check your Vantage Score as well and compare the two.

What do I do in case of disputes?

These are common, and it is estimated that almost 20% of Americans have problems with their credit reports. As such, each of the main credit bureaus; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have a dispute resolution center that will help with any problems you may be having.

I have talked about this on the following articles;

https://expertbeacon.com/best-credit-repair-companies/

https://expertbeacon.com/lexington-credit-repair-review/

https://expertbeacon.com/sky-blue-credit-repair/

There are many more. Credit repair is all about disputes. When you can prove that a certain item on your credit report is untrue, then, once you raise a dispute, there is a high possibility of it getting deleted from your report.

If you read more on the above articles, you will get a guide on which company to choose for your credit repair and the procedure that is normally followed for this to happen.

Does the Chase Credit Journey hurt your credit score?

No. It doesn’t hurt your credit score. This is a ‘myth' that is not true. You can actually be able to check your credit score using chase credit journey as often as you like without having any consequences to your credit report.

Conclusion

Everyone needs to be in control of their finances, and being able to check your credit score whenever you like is one of the best ways of doing this. Your credit score is actually a reflection of your financial position.

This is because, it shows how many loans you have, how you are repaying these loans and how much more credit you can be able to access. Once you have this information, you can now make an informed decision whenever you want to take out credit.

Remember that your credit score is used on almost all areas of your life such as getting a job, applying for a credit card, renting a new house, etc., and hence must be taken seriously. Ensure to check your score as often as possible so you can tell when things are about to go wrong.

Now, if you have a low credit score, do not worry. This is a reversible situation and all you need to do is come up with a plan, or consult with the companies I have talked about in my links above.

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