Understanding your credit profile is key to making informed financial decisions, but navigating reports from multiple credit bureaus can be overwhelming. That’s why we created an explainer video to break down the combined 3-bureau credit report used on SmartDispute.ai.
In just a few minutes, you’ll see how this comprehensive report consolidates data from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—giving you a clearer, more complete view of your credit standing. Watch the video to learn how this report can help you dispute errors, monitor your credit, and take control of your financial future.
Watch the video below and see for yourself how SmartDispute.ai can work for you!
Video Transcript
Hi, it’s Kevin with SmartDispute.ai… with this explainer tour of the Smart Report.
Your Smart Report is your combined three-bureau credit report with some very important enhancements. That’s why we call it Smart Report instead of just your Credit Report. Let’s explore more.
The first thing you see at the top of the page are your VantageScore credit scores from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. VantageScore is widely used in the credit reporting industry.
Below each score is the credit score range used by VantageScore, with 300 on the horrible side and 850 on the perfect score side. You’ll notice the date SmartDispute.ai pulled your credit report along with the number of days before the next one will be automatically refreshed.
In the section labeled “Credit Report,” you’ll see 10 important categories: the top row of five are informational and the second row are categories of accounts that are probably hurting your credit score. Let’s review each, starting with the top 5 categories.
The SUMMARY provides an overview of your combined credit reports from the three credit bureaus. We’ve standardized the information so you can see the variation between the credit bureaus. To a large degree, the dispute process does not depend much on the data shown in the summary because we label problematic accounts a little differently than the credit bureaus. For example, the terms Delinquent and Derogatory are helpful when trying to see if you have items hurting your credit score, but they aren’t particularly helpful when it comes to disputing.
Just below the Summary is the PERSONAL section, and this is how the credit bureaus show–among other things–your name, address, and employment information. You might see some variation in the information here, and that’s okay. It has absolutely no bearing on your credit score. If your address is old or outdated, don’t worry. When you file your first dispute letter, the credit bureau will update the correct address.
The second category is ALL ACCOUNTS, and the number next to it indicates the number of accounts reporting information about you across all three credit bureaus.
A couple of words about navigation: To the right of each account is a PLUS + icon. If I click on it, it opens the account and provides me with all the details. I can open one at a time, or all of them by clicking on the down arrow. If want to close the detail view, I just click the up arrow.
Okay, back to the accounts… Each account has the name of the creditor–also called the furnisher–along with a balance and account number… with that account number sometimes being masked.
If we scroll down a bit, you’ll notice that each account is color-coded so you can quickly identify which are potentially helping or hurting your credit.
Those with the red circle are problem accounts. These are the ones SmartDispute.ai focuses on. The accounts with a green circle are open and positive… no problems here. The accounts next to a gray circle are closed, but are positive and paid in good standing. Those accounts are probably still helping your credit.
The next account category is REMOVED accounts. Our video doesn’t show any accounts here, but when you dispute a negative account, and it is removed, that account will show up here. It’s important to understand that if an account appears as REMOVED, it will not appear in ALL ACCOUNTS. This allows you and SmartDispute.ai to track progress and to ensure an account doesn’t reappear later on.
The NEW account category shows accounts that have appeared since your last credit report. This may be a new account or tradeline (such as a secured credit card) that is now reporting the details about the new account, including your payment history. Accounts here will only show up in the month they were new to your credit report. They will also appear in the ALL ACCOUNTS category.
CREDITOR CONTACTS are something that all credit bureaus provide on your credit report. If you ever choose to dispute something on your credit report directly with the creditor instead of the credit bureau, this is where you can locate their address. Remember, a creditor is also sometimes referred to as a furnisher.
The second row of account categories are probably hurting your credit. This is where SmartDispute.ai really goes to work. The app looks at all three credit reports and looks for errors, omissions, and inconsistencies to dispute. It looks at dates, amounts, late payments, and all the other fields of information. And within moments, the app knows if dispute opportunities exist for that account and WHICH dispute opportunities to queue up first.
The first negative category is LATE PAYMENTS. These are accounts where bills were paid 30+ days late. And you could be as much as 120 to 150 days late, too. You might have been late in 2021 and then again in 2024. But here’s the thing… even one late payment can lower your credit score and stays on your report for 7 years. By the way, SmartDispute.ai tracks all the accounts that have reported a late payment during the past 7 years and this is critical if you really want to repair your credit.
Next is COLLECTIONS. These are accounts that started out as a car loan, a hospital bill, a bank loan, or some other kind of account where you owed money. Because you were unable to keep up with payments and eventually were not able to make any payments, it was sold to a collection agency. That credit card or bank loan you could no longer make payments on is now owned by a new company and that new account owner replaces the original creditor on your credit report. And that new account owner will do just about anything to get you to pay. These hurt your score and can remain for 7 years, even if paid later.
CHARGE-OFF accounts are when lenders give up on collecting a debt – usually after 6 months of no payments. They retain ownership of the account instead of selling it to a collection agency. But just because they’ve given up trying to collect through letters, phone calls, and emails… in their eyes, you still owe them money and some of them can be very, very aggressive about getting you to pay. Charge-off accounts stay on your report for 7 years and lower your score. Paying a charged-off debt doesn’t remove it but may help your score over time.
INQUIRIES are hard pulls against your credit file. These happen when you apply for loans or credit cards. These are hard inquiries only as soft inquiries do not appear on your consumer credit report. Inquiries remain on your credit report for two years, and they ding your credit score about 3 to 7 points each. But that number is reduced, especially after the first year, and drops off after the two years. However, if you have too many credit applications in a short time, it can signal financial trouble.
A couple of words about inquiries: too many people freak out when inquiries show up on their credit reports, but they don’t weigh nearly as negatively on your credit score as do late payments, collections, and charge-offs… and they are notoriously difficult to remove.
Also, the credit bureaus know when you’re out shopping for a car and four hard pulls suddenly show up within a short amount of time from various car dealerships or financial institutions. They lump those together and treat them like one inquiry.
Finally, if you try to dispute an inquiry for an open and active account, SmartDispute.ai will automatically warn you not to file the dispute because it may cause the furnisher to flag or close the account.
Last, we have PUBLIC RECORDS, which nowadays are exclusively bankruptcies. This is when a court rules that someone can’t pay what they owe. It stays on your credit report for 7–10 years, hurts your score badly, and makes borrowing money tough. Lenders see this as a major red flag. Fortunately, the credit bureaus recently removed civil judgments and tax liens from this category.
Let’s get into the details by clicking on the PLUS icon. The account is often reported to all three credit bureaus, but sometimes, it may only report to one or two of them. This is normal.
Each ACCOUNT NAME may also vary from bureau to bureau, which is fine… and some credit bureaus de-identify the ACCOUNT NUMBER.
You’ll also notice that some data fields may be empty. That’s because the creditor does not use that information in their reporting or it isn’t relevant to their type of reporting or account.
Sometimes, an important field is left empty due to a reporting inconsistency, and SmartDispute.ai will find it and help you dispute it. Other times, the data in a particular field will show a huge variation in either the amount… or the date… and SmartDispute.ai will recommend a dispute for that. Now you’re beginning to understand why it can be so helpful to have an AI-driven technology platform working for you!
We’re not going to review all the fields in this video, but if you really want to roll up your sleeves and understand the data, ask SmartChat. Be specific. For example, “What is Date Account Reported?”
Let’s look at the Seven Year Payment History. The legend across the top is helpful. Anything in red will be highly negative. Yellow and orange colors aren’t helpful either. The white N/A simply means the creditor did not report in that given month. This is neither negative nor positive. And, of course, green is what we all strive for.
Payment history can be difficult to remove and that’s why it’s super helpful to have SmartDispute.ai looking at all the payment history to find errors and inconsistencies.
We encourage you to take some time and understand your credit report. Take advantage of the SmartChat functionality and search for helpful articles in SmartLearn.
We welcome your feedback on this explainer video. If a topic is confusing or hasn’t been sufficiently explained, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected].