 TITLE: How Often Should I Check My Credit Score? CONTENT: How Often Is My Credit Score Updated?\n-------------------------------------\nCredit scores are created on demand and are based on credit reports from the three major consumer credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion or Equifax. While it can sometimes feel like you're checking a score that's constantly being updated in the background—that's simply not how it works. A credit report must be requested and created, and then that report is scored.\nWith this in mind, it may be more helpful to ask yourself what's changed in your credit report since the last time you checked your score?\nMany changes can affect your scores, including:\n*   You applied for a new credit account.\n*   You opened or closed an account.\n*   A creditor sent an update to the credit bureaus with your most recent payment and account information.\n*   A collection agency reported a collection account in your name to the credit bureaus.\nIf you regularly check your credit scores, you may see that they move up and down quite often. The changes may be due, in part, to one of the above. Additionally, credit scores may use several time-related attributes when determining a score, such as the average age of your accounts or how long it's been since a negative item was added to your credit report. As a result, even the passage of time can lead to changing credit scores—even if everything else stays the same. END