When you apply for a credit card, the card issuer may check your credit score from Experian, Equifax, or Transunion – or all three. Companies don’t typically disclose which credit bureau they use when checking consumers’ information and there is no guarantee that they will choose a particular one. However, some banks have been known to use one credit bureau more than the others. The state that you reside in might also have an impact on which credit bureau your company will use.
Following are a few examples of credit card companies that use Experian more than other bureaus in general.
American Express:
American Express is known to use Experian the most compared to other credit card companies. It almost always uses Experian exclusively, almost 90% of the time, for a hard inquiry when assessing a credit card application.
Bank of America:
Bank of America also usually uses Experian for about 80% of the time to pull credit reports. For specific cards, they may use TransUnion. In case the applicant has frozen their Experian report, they will most probably use TransUnion.
Chase:
While Chase generally uses Experian slightly more than the other bureaus, the choice of credit bureau may change according to the state you reside in. Some states might prefer TransUnion or Equifax over Experian and some might pull data from at least two bureaus for each application.
Citi:
Citi commonly uses Experian or Equifax to pull credit reports. For some applications, they may use both for a credit pull. Very rarely do they use TransUnion.
Wells Fargo:
Wells Fargo uses Experian around 40% of the time followed by TransUnion and Equifax. The bureau it uses to pull credit reports from also depends mostly on the applicant’s state of residence.
