Back in May I learned I have a less-than-stellar credit score. Since then I disputed some inaccuracies in my credit report and completed a debt-management program, so I decided to check my score again to find out if there had been a positive impact.

I was cautiously optimistic. I logged onto myFICO and checked the score from TransUnion — the same steps I took last time. I was delighted when I saw my score had increased by 110 points. That number places me in the “good” range! 

I figure this might be just the boost I need to get my current credit card APR lowered or apply for a new, more reasonable card (based on advice from personal finance experts). But before I pursued doing so, I discovered I still have a few things to sort out.

With a gift from my grandmother I paid off a $900 overdraft on my checking account in November. A couple days later I saw that the $1,000 overdraft limit on that account had been cut to just $300. This struck me as odd because my limit had been $1,000 since I opened the account in 2003. A few days later I got a letter explaining the decrease was because of my low credit score.

I was bewildered because I thought my credit score had gone up. Then I saw a note at the bottom of the letter that indicated Citibank receives credit reporting from Equifax (not TransUnion). Inconveniently, that’s the one company I haven’t yet been able to check myself. (My Experian credit report and score is consistent with the information I got from TransUnion).

So now I’m looking into what information is included in the Equifax report as well as why it’s different from the others. The web site AnnualCreditReport says I can’t retrieve my Equifax information online so I’m writing in to inquire.

As always, I will share what I find out!