When you are trying to establish good credit, it is important to regularly check your credit report and credit score to keep up with changes. Credit scores continuously fluctuate, even when generated by the same credit reporting agency. However, according to “

Credit FAQs: Why Does My Credit Score Fluctuate?” on the Equifax Finance Blog, credit score fluctuation is perfectly normal.

When it comes to your credit score, timing is everything. It is not a fixed measurement, but one that changes based on your credit behaviors and the ever-changing information in your credit report. Credit scores could change on a daily basis as lenders, collection agencies and public records report new data. The passage of time can also cause your score to fluctuate, because each item on the report becomes less significant over time.

Two common reasons your credit score may fluctuate are your payment history and your debt-to-credit ratio. Your payment history is the largest factor used to calculate your credit score, so late or delinquent payments are likely to cause fluctuation. Your debt-to-credit ratio represents how much available credit you are using. This causes regular credit score fluctuations, especially if your balance changes from month to month.

Differences between credit reporting agencies’ data can cause your credit score to change as well. Each agency has a slightly different set of data compiled from creditors and each uses different scoring models. Even though this fluctuation is considered normal, it is still important to ensure the changes are not the result of inaccurate or outdated information.  This makes it important to regularly pull and analyze your credit report to check for errors.

For more information on your credit score, be sure to visit the Equifax Finance Blog.