This article provides a comprehensive overview of the reasons your credit score may have dropped.

When you log into your NerdWallet account and review your credit score and report, the information you see comes directly from TransUnion. To protect your privacy and security, NerdWallet employees are not able to see your credit score or report. As a result, we're not typically able to determine the exact reasons for a credit score change.

Common potential causes of a credit score drop

• Closing or opening a credit card.
• Using more of your available credit, thereby causing an increase to your credit utilization ratio. Even if you pay your balance in full every month, running a higher-than-usual balance at any point during the month can cause a score decrease.
• Maxing out a credit card.
• Having a credit account go into collections.
• Not paying a bill on time.

If none of the above items apply, take a close look at your credit report to make sure that all of the information is accurate. If you see something you don’t recognize, you can research the unknown creditors or dispute inaccurate information.

If you have additional questions about the items on your credit report, you may want to get in touch with TransUnion directly. You can find their contact information here.

You should also know...

• There’s no single “true” credit score, as your score can vary based on the credit bureau, and credit scoring model used. Here’s more about comparing FICO and other scores.
• It’s possible to review a free copy of your credit report from each of the three bureaus once per year, which is a smart way to check if an errors appear across all your credit reports.