When applying for a new credit card from Chase, the bank will check your credit report and credit scores to evaluate your creditworthiness. Credit reports include a variety of information about you, including how much you owe to any lenders, what your monthly payments are and your payment history with each account.
The credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) calculate your credit score each month based on the account information they receive from banks and other lenders. However, while many credit card issuers may rely on one particular credit bureau to make their lending decisions, Chase may use a different credit report depending on where you live. Learn more about which credit bureau Chase uses when making lending decisions, why it matters and what information Chase reports to the bureaus.
Which credit bureau does Chase use?
Chase may pull reports from one or more of the three major credit bureaus to make its credit decisions. Typically, this results in a hard inquiry on your credit report. In general, the bank only uses information from one credit bureau at a time. Using information from only one bureau versus all three helps to keep the bank’s costs down and speeds up the decision-making process.
Which credit bureau the bank uses the most often depends on which state you live in. Based on anecdotal information, Chase generally uses credit data from Experian. However, Chase may opt to review your Equifax or TransUnion credit reports instead depending on which state you live in.
That said, Chase reports account information to all three credit bureaus. This ensures you have the most accurate credit history possible when a prospective lender checks your credit reports. Chase offers a free credit report tool called Chase Credit Journey®, which uses Experian data and the credit score generated is a VantageScore 3.0.
Not all scores are created equally: Here’s the difference between FICO Scores and VantageScore
Why does this matter?
Some people may be concerned about which credit bureau Chase uses because each inquiry can lower your credit score. Although the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – tend to have the same information on borrowers, they aren’t exactly the same. The credit bureaus charge banks to access their records, and each credit inquiry costs the bank money. As a way to control costs, banks may access just one credit bureau per credit card application.
Additionally, when Chase pulls your credit report, it looks at your recent inquiries, when accounts were opened and other factors. Issuers consider a combination of how many card accounts you currently have, how recently they were opened, your payment history and the amount of debt you’re carrying to determine whether your application is approved or declined. Be aware that Chase has an unwritten “5/24 rule” which prevents new Chase card applicants from being approved for a new Chase card if they’ve opened five or more cards from any issuer over the past 24 months.
Knowing which credit report a bank pulls can help you take steps to clean up that credit report and potentially boost your credit score to make qualifying more likely.
Chase credit bureau by location
The credit bureau that Chase uses when making lending decisions often depends on where you’re located when submitting the application. This table below indicates the credit report that Chase primarily uses based on which state you live in. While these are the credit reports used most often for each state, your experience may differ.
| TYPICALLY EXPERIAN | TYPICALLY EQUIFAX | TYPICALLY TRANSUNION | PRIMARY BUREAU USE UNCLEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
California | Alabama | Delaware | Georgia |
Colorado | Arizona | Illinois | Minnesota |
Connecticut | Idaho | Indiana | Oregon |
Florida | Maryland | Iowa | |
Hawaii | Tennessee | Maine | |
Kentucky | Virginia | Mississippi | |
Louisiana | Washington | Nebraska | |
Massachusetts | Ohio | ||
Missouri | |||
Montana | |||
Nevada | |||
New Hampshire | |||
New Jersey | |||
New Mexico | |||
New York | |||
North Carolina | |||
Pennsylvania | |||
South Carolina | |||
Texas | |||
Utah | |||
Wisconsin |
What information does Chase report to the credit bureaus?
Banks not only rely on information from credit bureaus when making application decisions. They also are responsible for sharing details about customer accounts to all three credit bureaus so that the credit bureaus can calculate credit scores and lenders can make informed credit decisions.
Chase provides credit bureaus with a range of customer information relating to their credit card accounts. This information includes:
- Credit limit.
- Account balance.
- Scheduled monthly payment.
- Payment history.
- Status of the account.
Many consumers subscribe to a credit monitoring service to keep track of their credit report and credit score. If you don’t want to subscribe to a service, consumers can get a free credit report from all three credit bureaus every week.
When does Chase report to credit bureaus?
Banks often report cardholder data in batches throughout the month. This allows the bank to send the data in chunks every day versus its entire customer roster all at once on a single day. If you have multiple credit cards, your credit score and report could change several times each month depending on what type of information is provided to the bureaus at a particular point in time.
Chase typically reports customer data on the day statements close each month. This way, the information found on a customer’s credit report matches the details on their credit card statement.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Anecdotal feedback from readers and online studies suggest that Chase uses credit report information from Experian the most. However, the bank may pull credit report information from Equifax or Transunion based on which state you live in. In some cases, the bank may pull credit data from more than one credit agency to get a more complete picture of your finances.
Yes, when applying for a new credit card, Chase will make a hard inquiry on your credit report. Chase performs a soft inquiry when using its prequalification tool, but then it does a hard inquiry when submitting a formal application for a card. Additionally, the bank may do a hard inquiry if you’re asking to increase the limit on an existing card.
Chase reports cardholder information to all three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and Transunion. This ensures that your credit history, whether it be positive or negative, is available for all lenders to view. With responsible use of your credit cards, reporting to all three bureaus provides you the best chance at receiving a higher credit score.
