Does Spectrum Run a Credit Check?

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If it’s your first time signing up for cable and internet services, you may be in the dark on a few things. Spectrum may be one of your top choices. However, sometimes your credit is checked by service providers to ensure you will be a good customer. So, does Spectrum run a credit check?

When signing up for Spectrum a credit check is performed. A credit score of 797 or above is the preferred credit worthiness needed to be approved for Spectrum services. 

You probably still have questions and concerns about having your credit checked with Spectrum. What happens if your credit isn’t good enough? How does having your credit checked affect it? What is a credit score?  Keep reading and we’ll cover these questions and many more! 

What Is a Credit Score? 

Before we can get into the process Spectrum takes for running your credit to determine if you are eligible for their services, you first need to know what a credit score is.

A credit score is a three digit number between 300-850 that shows how worthy the customer is to be given a loan of money from a lendor. For example, mortgage loans, opening new credit cards – all are loans of money. 

A credit score is made positive by payments being made on time for these ‘loans’. 

Why Is a Credit Score Important?

Now that you know what a credit score is, you should know its importance.

A credit score is important because it allows you to borrow large amounts of money throughout life but also shows companies such as Spectrum whether or not you are a trusted consumer who will pay their bills timely. 

If a credit score is too low then it shows the company that you do not in fact pay on time, and that may wave their decision on whether or not they let you use their services.

What Credit Bureau Does Spectrum Pull From?

So credit scores are important to loans and services that require you to pay monthly fees and Spectrum is one of these providers who pull your score. But what credit bureau does Spectrum pull from?

Spectrum performs a hard pull credit check from Experian to evaluate whether or not your credit score is high enough to be considered for either full, partial or no service. 

If it’s found that your score is in fact too low, then you will be given a limited number of lines or services under Spectrum or no services at all. 

What Is a Hard Credit Check?

As we mentioned before, the type of credit check Spectrum pulls is a hard credit check. But what is that?

A hard credit check is you giving someone permission to check your credit score and evaluate if that score is good enough for a potential service 

Some examples of hard credit checks include:

  • Opening a new credit card
  • Renting an apartment
  • Taking out a loan

Hard credit checks can slightly lower your credit as compared to Soft Credit checks, which is someone looking at your score but the action of looking at your score doesn’t lower it. Hard credit checks are much more common. 

Does Spectrum Affect Credit Score?

As we mentioned before, Spectrum pulls a hard credit check which may temporarily drop your credit score by a few points. But can using Spectrum services affect your credit score in the long run?

Internet and cable services like Spectrum rarely report late payments or missed payments to the credit bureau. With this being said, that means that positive payments that are on time will not positively impact your credit score either. 

The only way Spectrum can negatively affect your credit score is if you have missed so many payments that your account is sent to collections. Then, it will be reported to the credit bureau negatively, bringing down your credit score and closing your Spectrum account. 

Also, putting Spectrum payments on a credit card will increase credit as credit card payments are reported to credit bureaus. 

Why You May Not Be Eligible for Spectrum’s Mobile Plans

If your credit score is too low, Spectrum may not want to give you their services. However, there is more to it than just that.

Here is why you may not be eligible for Spectrum’s mobile plans:

  1. Poor credit – Having a credit score under 797 can lead to refusal of service or less plans offered. 
  2. Device eligibility – Issues such as not being able to receive or send calls or texts can come up if you are attempting to use an ineligible device. The best course of action is to contact a representative from Spectrum and ensure that your device is eligible for their mobile services beforehand. 
  3. The SIM card in your device was swapped or replaced – Sometimes buying a phone secondhand means that phone can come without the original sim card or a broken sim card. Getting in contact with Spectrum and ordering a Spectrum certified sim card will fix the issue as long as it’s an eligible device. 
  4. The device’s previous payment plan was not paid in full – If your device’s previous mobile and internet carrier was not paid in full, service can not be started via Spectrum. 
  5. The device was reported as lost or stolen – If  the device you are attempting to set up was reported stolen or lost, Spectrum is unable to set it up with its services.

Now you know everything about Spectrum doing a credit check and how it may affect your credit score.

Conclusion

Overall, Spectrum requires not only a credit check but a high credit score of 797 to be considered for services. If your credit score is too low, then you’ll be considered for less services or phone lines, or no service whatsoever. The steps after being checked for credit and other eligibility factors are listed here.

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