Credit monitoring should be a part of your money management routine, and there are several platforms out there that can help you track and improve your credit score.
One service that you may want to consider signing up for is Chase Credit Journey.
Whether you bank with Chase or not, you could benefit from Chase’s Vantage Score 3.0 credit checks, offers, and recommendations.
In the Chase Credit Journey review below, we’ll provide you with an overview of the platform’s features and take a look at how it compares to competitors.
What Is Chase Credit Journey?
Chase Credit Journey was launched in 2017 by Chase as a way for anybody — not just Chase account-holders — to check their credit score for free. Your score will refresh weekly, though you can check it whenever you want with no restrictions. Checking your credit score through Chase Credit Journey will not affect your credit score.
Now, you won’t be seeing your FICO score — the score relied on by most creditors when evaluating potential customers. Instead, you’ll be seeing your VantageScore credit score. I’ll go into what that means for you later.
Along with access to your VantageScore, Chase Credit Journey offers the following additional services:
- See the following information from your TransUnion credit report (and get Credit Alert notifications whenever any of the following changes):
- New credit inquiries
- New accounts opened
- Address changes
- Account status changes
- Fraud alerts
- Delinquent account notices
- New public records reported on your credit report
- Track your credit score changes (you’ll see how your score has changed with each weekly update)
- Credit Score Simulator — shows how actions you might take can affect your credit score
- See which Chase credit cards you prequalify for
How Do You Sign Up for Chase Credit Journey?
Chase Credit Journey makes signing up and using the app easy.
Signing up for a Chase Credit Journey account is simple and secure.
You just have to follow a few prompts and enter basic identifying information, including your:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Address
- Social Security Number
- Contact info
Once you create a login and go through Chase’s identity verification (a PIN or set of security questions), you’re all set.
When you create your account and enter your information, you grant Chase permission to access your TransUnion credit report.
How Much Does Chase Credit Journey Cost?
With all of the services offered by the platform, you may be wondering, is Chase Credit Journey free?
The answer is yes.
While some credit monitoring services are subscription-based and offer limited functionality in their free versions, Chase offers one free comprehensive service.
You don’t even have to have a Chase bank account or credit card to get started.
Chase Credit Journey Features
Let’s take a look at some of the features that customers get when they sign up for Chase Credit Journey.
Chase Credit Journey Credit Alerts
First off, Credit Journey features real-time updates and alerts to your account. Credit Journey will keep you up to date on any new accounts you open and any hard inquiries. From the same section, you can go to the dispute pages if you think a charge or inquiry was made in error. This page has the phone number and email of the credit reporting agency.
If any of your report data changes, then you will get an automatic update. For example, if you open a new line of credit, an alert will pop up with a new credit line.
Chase Credit Journey Offers
As is the case with most credit reporting services like CreditKarma, Chase Credit Journeys will offer you financial products that the algorithm determines that would be best for you. Chase’s algorithm takes into account your current credit score and past financial behavior to generate recommended credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, and more. They also offer a neat card finder tool that lets you compare different cards and offers.
Chase Credit Journey Resources
Part of the package is Chase’s large library of educational articles that cover pretty much any topic related to credit scores such as how scores are calculated, common myths about credit, and articles on how to build and manage poor credit. Chase’s library of resources is one of the best we have seen and is written in a way that even someone who has no idea about credit can understand.
Chase Credit Journey Report
Credit Journey displays your TransUnion report with a 7-factor, comprehensive overview including:
- Open accounts gives you every open account showing up in TransUnion’s report. You’ll see your total balance across all accounts and your total available credit.
- Closed accounts: Either recently closed accounts or ones that closed several years ago.
- Inquiries are whenever a lender requests to see your credit history.
- Derogatory marks. When lenders report missed payments or delinquencies. May also include bankruptcies, tax liens, and collections.
- Collections are considerably past due accounts.
- Public records include things like missed child support payments, bankruptcies, and wage garnishments.
- Personal information contains basic info including your name, address, employment, and birthdate.
Chase Credit Journey Simulation Tool
The credit score simulation tool is probably the most unique and the most useful feature of Chase Credit Journey. The simulation tool is exactly what it sounds like—it lets you simulate how changes would affect your credit score.
Using the toolset, you can adjust the major reporting metrics to see how the changes would affect your current score. For example, say you wanted to figure out how your score would change if you were using less of your credit balance. Simply adjust the “Credit Usage” metric and your scores will update with the projected new score.
You can tweak any of the reporting criteria to see what strategies can help you get the score you want.
A quick disclaimer on the simulation tool. It is not perfect and you shouldn’t take its word as gospel. Chase is fairly clear that the simulation tool is just an estimation and should not be relied on as official data. However, it is still an incredibly interesting tool to have, even if it is not perfect.
Chase Credit Journey Pros
- It’s completely free to use. Chase Credit Score does not cost a single cent to use. You don’t have to put in any card info, and you don’t even have to be a Chase bank customer to sign up for the service.
- Credit simulator tool. The simulation tool is one of the best features of the service and can help you figure out what changes can maximize your score. You can change different parameters to see what effects they have on your score.
- Resource library. Chase credit Journey also features a large, comprehensive library of useful educational resources. They have articles on pretty much every aspect of credit, including tips to increase your score, common credit myths, and in-depth explanations of how, exactly, credit reporting works.
- Recommended offers. In addition to your credit score reports, Credit Journey will generate some recommended financial products that mesh well with your current score. To be completely honest, most people who use the service probably won’t even actually apply for these offers, but they are still nice to have nonetheless.
Chase Credit Journey Cons
- Does not report FICO scores. This point is not that much of a con, but it is still something you should be aware of. Credit Journey reports your VantageScore rating. Most lending institutions use FICO scores for approving customers. As such, your credit score on Credit Journey and another service might differ.
- Simulation tool is somewhat choppy. While it generally works fairly well, we noticed that the simulation tool seems to have some bugs. Specifically, it seems to have trouble updating your projected score when you change around the parameters. Most times, if you log out then log back in it should fix the issue.
- Interface could be smoother. Again, this is not a huge issue but the interface on Credit Journey is not as smooth or fluid as other services. Specifically, CreditKarma beats out Credit Journey for having a more intuitive and user-friendly interface.
Best Alternatives for Chase Credit Journey
Chase Credit Journey is a good credit monitoring service, but it’s far from your only choice.
Whether you’re looking for an app that tracks your FICO score or one that gives you more expansive card offers, take a look at the top free alternatives to Chase below:
- Experian: With free access to your Experian score and alerts, Experian could be worth adding to your toolbox. You can also upgrade to see all your scores for a low monthly price.
- Credit Sesame: Another free service, Credit Sesame gives you your Experian score and loads of credit card offers from various lenders and creditors.
- Credit Karma: Credit Karma has the best of both worlds, showing you your Equifax and TransUnion scores, along with alerts, card offers, and tools.
Chase Credit Journey disputes
There’s even a dispute center where you can follow links to initiate disputes for errors on your TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian reports.
Here’s what they recommend for disputing errors:
Step 1: Contact the creditor associated with the account
- You should begin the dispute process by contacting the creditor responsible for the inaccuracy.
- You can find the contact information for each of your creditors on this credit report.
- Your financial institutions will be able to correct most minor errors over the phone and will prevent them from recurring.
Step 2: Contact each of the credit reporting agencies
You can dispute online with TransUnion.
You can also file a dispute via mail.
TransUnion
2 Baldwin Place
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022
You can dispute certain items online with Equifax, if you have an active Equifax credit report file number.
You can also file a dispute with Equifax via mail.
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
You can dispute online with Experian.
Chase Credit Journey Customer Service
Chase Credit Journey Phone Number: 1-800-935-9935
Chase Credit Journey FAQs
Is there a charge for Chase Credit Journey?
No. Chase Credit Journey is a free service provided by Chase. It allows you to check your credit score at any time without a hard pull.
Does Chase Credit Journey hurt your credit score?
No, Chase Credit Journey does not affect your credit score. You can check Chase Credit Journey as often as you like without any affect to your credit score.
How can I check my credit score with Chase?
It’s easy to check your credit score with Chase. Just log in to your online account. Then scroll down till you see Your credit score on the left side of the screen. Then click Free score, updated weekly to see your credit score.
Why Don’t I See My Credit Score In the Dashboard?
If you recently opened your first credit account, it can take 6-9 months before your score appears.
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