More Than 1 in 3 Americans Have Never Checked Any of Their Credit Reports

More than one-third of American adults (35 percent) report that they have never reviewed any of their credit reports and another 14 percent say they typically go more than a year between checks, according to a new study by Bankrate.com. Forty-four percent of senior citizens and 41 percent of millennials have never checked any of their credit reports. Bankrate recommends checking a credit report at least three times each year.

In an effort to help consumers monitor and protect their credit, Bankrate.com has launched myBankrate. The new service offers a truly free credit score and credit report (both updated monthly), as well as other no-cost financial assessment tools to help people make better informed financial decisions. myBankrate is available at my.bankrate.com.

Credit reports are important documents that lenders, employers, landlords, utility companies and others use to measure financial responsibility. Credit reports detail a person’s credit history, including payment records, available credit and delinquencies. A credit score is a three-digit number generated using information from an individual’s credit report. Credit scores help determine loan qualifications, interest rates and credit limits. Frequent credit monitoring can protect consumers against identity theft and errors (the Federal Trade Commission estimates that credit report errors affect tens of millions of Americans).