How Credit Sesame Can Affect Your Credit Score

Using Credit Sesame to check your credit score does not directly impact it. The platform uses a "soft inquiry," which isn't visible to lenders and doesn't lower your score.

1. Initial Check: When you sign up, Credit Sesame performs a soft credit pull to access your credit information from a major bureau. This initial step has no effect on your credit score.

2. Score Monitoring: The service provides you with your credit score and a summary of your credit report. Regularly viewing this information through the platform does not change your score.

3. Product Recommendations: Based on your credit profile, Credit Sesame suggests financial products like credit cards or loans for which you may be eligible. These are just suggestions, not applications.

4. Applying for Credit: If you act on a recommendation and apply for a new line of credit, the lender will perform a hard inquiry. This action, initiated by you, can temporarily lower your score.

5. Long-Term Management: Successfully opening and responsibly managing a new account (e.g., making on-time payments) can positively influence your credit score over time, which is an indirect outcome of using the platform's suggestions.

How Much Will Credit Sesame Affect Your Credit Score?

Understanding how a service like Credit Sesame interacts with your credit profile is key. Here are the main points to consider regarding its potential impact on your score.

• Soft vs. Hard Inquiries: Credit Sesame performs a soft inquiry to access your credit information. Unlike hard inquiries from loan applications, these checks do not affect your credit score at all, allowing you to check as often as you like.
• Credit Monitoring vs. Building: The service primarily helps you monitor your credit, not directly build it. To improve your score, you must take action on the insights provided, such as paying down debt or disputing inaccuracies.
• Product Recommendations: Applying for credit cards or loans suggested on the platform will trigger a hard inquiry from the lender. This action, not the use of Credit Sesame itself, can temporarily lower your credit score.

How You Can Avoid Credit Sesame Affecting Your Credit Score

Understand Inquiry Types

Credit Sesame primarily uses soft inquiries to check your credit, which do not affect your score. A hard inquiry, which can lower your score, only occurs if you formally apply for a credit product offered through their platform. Knowing the difference is crucial for managing your score.

Use for Monitoring Only

To ensure your score remains untouched, you can use Credit Sesame strictly for its free credit monitoring and educational features. By refraining from applying for any recommended financial products, you guarantee that only soft inquiries are ever performed on your credit report through the service.

Ways to Improve Your Credit Score

Improving your credit score is always possible, though it requires consistent effort and time. With a few proven methods, most people can see meaningful changes to their creditworthiness in just a few months.

• Pay your bills on time. Since payment history is the most significant factor in your score, setting up automatic payments is a great way to ensure you never miss a due date.
• Reduce your credit utilization. Aim to keep your credit card balances below 30% of your total available credit, as this shows lenders you aren't over-reliant on debt.
• Check your credit reports for errors. You can get free reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and should dispute any inaccuracies you find with the credit bureaus.
• Diversify your credit mix. Having a variety of credit types, such as credit cards and installment loans, demonstrates that you can manage different kinds of debt responsibly.
• Limit hard inquiries. Avoid applying for too much new credit in a short period, as each application can temporarily lower your score.
• Become an authorized user. Being added to an account with a long, positive payment history can help boost your own credit profile.

The Bottom Line

Using Credit Sesame to check your credit score will not affect it. The platform performs a soft inquiry, which doesn't impact your credit rating like a hard inquiry from a lender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does using Credit Sesame hurt my credit score?

No, checking your score with Credit Sesame results in a soft inquiry, which does not affect your credit score. Lenders cannot see these types of inquiries.

How often does Credit Sesame update my score?

Credit Sesame typically updates your TransUnion credit score and report data on a monthly basis, allowing you to consistently monitor your credit health and track progress.

Is the credit score from Credit Sesame accurate?

Yes, Credit Sesame provides a genuine VantageScore 3.0 from TransUnion. However, lenders may use different scoring models, so it's best used as a reliable guide.