Dena Standley | July 28, 2023
Edited by Hannah Locklear
Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.
Summary: Truliant uses the three major credit monitoring bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, to check and report client information. It also uses the ChexSystems® agency to access additional banking information about potential members.
Truliant is a credit union, formally known as Truliant Federal Credit Union (TFCU). Credit Unions are member-owned, non-profit organizations that offer varied financial services similar to banks. Truliant provides credit for members and non-members, although membership affords borrowers better terms and interest rates.
Before Truliant can approve your application, it must check your credit report and score to determine whether you will likely have trouble repaying the loan. All three major credit monitoring bureaus give credit unions, and other authorized financial institutions, access to consumers' credit reports. They can also perform soft and hard pulls on your credit to pre-qualify or approve your loan application.
This article discusses why Truliant works with credit reporting bureaus, which agencies they use, and how these checks affect financial health.
As mentioned above, all financial institutions must perform a background search on anyone applying for a line of credit.
Credit reporting agencies have kept your records from the first time you used credit. These records include all accounts you have opened and closed, repayment history, defaulted accounts, and other public records, including tax liens and judgments.
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion use software Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) developed to determine your credit score. There are several versions of the FICO software, some basic and others designed for specified loans, such as the Auto Loans FICO Score.
You can access a free credit report annually. But consumers wishing to access their information with the score before applying for credit can do so at FICO for a fee.
Dispute errors on your credit report.
Truliant does more than provide loans and credit lines to consumers. As a credit union, it handles membership requests regularly. And according to their website, applicants must meet credit bureau and ChexSystems requirements.
ChexSystems works differently than traditional credit bureaus. It tracks information related to checking, savings, and other deposit accounts at any bank or credit union. This information lets Truliant know if a potential member can bank with the institution.
Example: Jamie lives and works in North Carolina. So she can apply for Truliant Federal Credit Union membership. Jamie has never defaulted on any loan, so she feels she will not have to go through further checks because of her excellent credit score. But Jamie soon learns Truliant must determine if applicants have a ChexSystems profile. Jamie could be in trouble if she has ever had a bounced or returned check, overdrafts, or unpaid fees.
Truliant also offers credit review services. Consumers may contact the institution to review their credit reports for errors, check their scores, and advise them on improving their creditworthiness.
Additionally, Truliant reports its clients' credit histories to the bureaus.
The institution will conduct a soft credit pull when you start the loan application process. This less detailed inquiry helps them determine which loans you may qualify for and at what interest rates. Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score.
Truliant will perform a further hard inquiry on your credit if you proceed with the loan application after this step. Such detailed investigations provide them with your entire credit history, allow them to finalize their decision regarding your application, and offer you tailored interest rates. Hard inquiries drop your score by a few points and can stay on your report for up to two years.
Hard pulls affect your credit, whether you go through with the loan or not. Therefore you should only authorize them when necessary. Check out our guide on how to raise your credit score to learn more.
ChexSystems, on the other hand, has no direct effect on your credit score. However, banks and credit unions use the information to check whether you can open an account with them. Consumers can access their ChexSystems report directly on the website or by phone at 800-428-9623. If you have unresolved issues, such as unpaid fees, pay these as soon as possible to keep your profile clean.
Like all other credit unions, Truliant may need to access members' and borrowers' credit information to qualify them for services. Truliant also reports credit histories to the major credit reporting bureaus and uses ChexSystems for anyone wanting to open a membership savings or checking account.
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