FAQ – Credit Score
Our Frequently Asked Questions are designed to answer all our customers’ questions.
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We are happy to announce that Credit Score powered by SavvyMoney® is now available to you through online and mobile banking. Credit Score by SavvyMoney is a free credit monitoring service to help you understand your current credit score, get access to your full credit report, and show you how you can improve it, and receive credit monitoring and alerts.
Credit Score powered by SavvyMoney is a comprehensive program offered by The Savings Bank that helps you stay on top of your credit. You get your latest credit score and report, plus an understanding of key factors that impact the score. Credit Score also monitors your credit report daily and informs you by email if there are any big changes detected such as: a new account being opened, change in address or employment, a delinquency has been reported or an inquiry has been made. Monitoring helps users keep an eye out for identity theft. With this program, you always know where you stand with your credit.
Credit Report powered by SavvyMoney provides you all the information you would find on your credit file including a list of open loans, accounts and credit inquiries. You will also be able to see details on your payment history, credit utilization and public records that show up on your account. Like Credit Score, when you check your credit report, there will be no impact to your score. We will find Credit Report right within Credit Score powered by SavvyMoney.
Online banking and mobile banking customers can get started with Credit Score by SavvyMoney right away. Once in online or mobile banking, you simply need to click on the “Credit Score” banner. First time users will be asked a few questions to verify their identity, and then you are good to go!
No. Credit Score and Credit Report powered by SavvyMoney are entirely free.
As long as you are a regular online banking user, your credit score will be updated every month and displayed in your online banking screen. You can click “refresh score” as frequently as every day by navigating to the detailed SavvyMoney site from within online banking.
Credit Score by SavvyMoney pulls your credit profile from TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting bureaus, and uses VantageScore 3.0, a credit scoring model developed collaboratively by the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This model seeks to make score information more uniform between the three bureaus to provide consumers a better picture of their credit health.
There are three major credit-reporting bureaus—Equifax, Experian and Transunion—and two scoring models—FICO or VantageScore—that determine credit scores. Financial institutions use different bureaus, as well as their own scoring models. Over 200 factors of a credit report may be taken into account when calculating a score and each model may weigh credit factors differently, so no scoring model is completely identical. No matter what credit bureau or credit scoring model is used, consumers do fall into specific credit ranges: Excellent 781–850, Good 661-780, Fair 601-660, Unfavorable 501-600, Bad Below 500.
No, The Savings Bank uses its own lending criteria for making loan.
No, your Credit Score by SavvyMoney is a free service to help you understand your credit health, and how you make improvements in your score. The Bank does not have access to your credit file within SavvyMoney.
Credit Score by SavvyMoney uses bank level encryption and security measures to keep your data safe and secure. Your personal information is never shared with or sold to a third party.
Credit Score by SavvyMoney can help you manage your credit so when it comes time to borrow for a big-ticket purchase—like buying a home or paying for college—you have a clear picture of your credit health.
Credit Score by SavvyMoney makes its best effort to show you the most relevant information from your credit report. If you think that some of the information is wrong or inaccurate, we encourage you to take advantage of obtaining free credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com, and then pursuing with each bureau individually. Each bureau has its own process for correcting inaccurate information but every user can “File a Dispute” by clicking on the “Dispute” link within their Credit Report by SavvyMoney Credit Report. The Federal Trade Commission website offers step-by-step instructions on how to contact the bureaus and correct errors.
The educational articles, written by Jean Chatzky and the SavvyMoney team, are designed to provide helpful tips on how you can manage credit and debt wisely.
No. Checking Credit Score powered by SavvyMoney is a “soft inquiry,” which does not affect your credit score. Lenders use “hard inquiries” to make decisions about your credit worthiness when you apply for loans.
Yes. Credit Score by SavvyMoney will monitor and send email alerts when there’s been a change to your credit profile.
If you access Credit Score by SavvyMoney program through your online banking, you have to do nothing! Your email address will get updated automatically in SavvyMoney when you update it in online banking. However, we always encourage you to inform The Savings Bank of any contact information updates. If you signed up with SavvyMoney from our website, please log into the website and click on your name displayed on top right of the screen. Select the Profile link from the drop down, and follow instructions to update your information.
Yes, Credit Score by SavvyMoney is available for both mobile and tablet devices.
Talk to The Savings Bank
To find out how The Savings Bank can help you achieve all your financial goals, visit one of our offices, use our contact form, or call us at 800-246-2009.
