What Credit Bureau Does Prosper Use?

Prosper pulls your TransUnion report with a hard pull, meaning the lender accesses the full TransUnion credit file and records the inquiry on your credit history; this single pull determines eligibility, influences the interest rate you receive, and is the sole bureau Prosper uses for its primary credit assessment, so any fluctuations in your TransUnion score will directly affect the loan terms Prosper offers you.

TransUnion supplies the most complete, up‑to‑date consumer file that Prosper's underwriting engine directly consumes; its nationwide coverage captures credit‑card, loan, utility and rental histories within days, letting Prosper generate a reliable hard pull instantly. This sync lets borrowers see the exact score that will affect their loan decision, and it feeds the same data set used in the 'prosper pulls your TransUnion report' section.

Experian and Equifax still feed the market, but their records often lag on newer accounts, omit alternative‑payment sources, and require separate mapping to Prosper's risk model. Relying on those bureaus would introduce stale or incomplete information, increasing false declines and forcing borrowers to 'prep your TransUnion score now' for consistency. Learn more about TransUnion's data breadth

Prosper pulls an Experian credit report, so strengthening that score directly improves loan odds. (The heading mentions TransUnion, but the hard pull comes from Experian, as clarified earlier.)

1. Get the latest Experian file - Order the free annual report or use Experian's instant‑access portal. Verify every entry before proceeding.
2. Challenge errors immediately - Open a dispute for any inaccurate balance, late‑payment, or obsolete account. Experian must investigate within 30 days, often resulting in a quick correction.
3. Trim revolving utilization - Keep credit‑card balances under 30 % of each limit; ideally below 10 %. Lower ratios signal better risk management to Prosper.
4. Add a positive tradeline - Secure a credit‑builder loan or become an authorized user on a well‑managed account. New on‑time payments boost the Experian score within a few months.
5. Preserve account age - Avoid closing long‑standing cards, even if they sit idle. Length of credit history remains a key factor in the Experian model.

Following these steps readies the Experian score before Prosper's hard pull, setting the stage for the error‑fixing tactics discussed next.

Dispute any TransUnion inaccuracies quickly so Prosper sees a clean TransUnion report during its hard pull.

• Request your free TransUnion report at TransUnion's online dispute portal.
• Scan the report; flag misspelled names, wrong addresses, outdated accounts, or duplicate debts.
• Open a dispute for each error; include a brief note and attach a copy of a government ID or a bill that proves the correct information.
• TransUnion must investigate within 30 days and send you the results.
• If the item is corrected, download the updated report and verify the change.
• Inform Prosper's loan team that the report is now accurate; they can re‑run the hard pull without delay.

Fixing errors before Prosper's pull eliminates unnecessary rejections and speeds up funding.

Prosper pulls only a hard TransUnion report; it never accesses your Experian or Equifax files.

• Myth: A hard pull will wreck your credit score. Fact: One hard TransUnion pull usually drops 5‑10 points and the impact diminishes within 12 months.
• Myth: Prosper runs a hard pull every time you log in. Fact: Only the loan application triggers a hard TransUnion pull; later account checks are soft.
• Myth: Freezing your TransUnion credit stops Prosper entirely. Fact: You can temporarily lift the freeze for the hard pull, so the freeze isn't a roadblock.
• Myth: A hard pull guarantees loan approval. Fact: The pull only supplies data; Prosper also weighs income, debt‑to‑income ratio, and other factors.
• Myth: Re‑applying after a rejection forces another hard pull. Fact: Re‑apply within 30 days and Prosper uses the existing pull, avoiding an extra hard inquiry.

Prosper's hard pull reads only your TransUnion report, so a frozen TransUnion file doesn't stop the application - just lift the freeze temporarily and the pull proceeds as usual. You can unfreeze online or by phone for a single day, and the freeze returns automatically afterward, leaving your score untouched.

A brief unfreeze costs nothing and takes minutes; Prosper will still receive the required TransUnion data, and the rest of the process continues unchanged. For details on lifting a freeze, see how to temporarily lift a credit freeze.

Prosper only initiates a hard pull on your TransUnion report, so any Experian soft pull you see comes from a different lender or a pre‑qualification check. Spotting it early means logging into your credit‑monitoring tool and looking for entries labeled 'soft inquiry' or 'pre‑approval check' under Experian.

To catch an Experian soft pull before it surprises you, (1) open your credit‑monitoring dashboard, (2) filter the inquiry list by Experian, (3) note the date - if it predates your Prosper application, it's unrelated, (4) verify the creditor name. Soft pulls won't dent your score, but spotting them early keeps your credit picture clear for future hard pull decisions.

Prosper doesn't limit joint‑loan credit checks to TransUnion; it runs a hard pull with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for each co‑borrower.

• Both applicants see a single hard inquiry that lands on all three bureau reports.
• Any credit freeze on any bureau must be lifted before submitting the joint application.
• The inquiry impacts each borrower's overall credit profile, not just the TransUnion score.
• Monitoring all three reports after approval helps spot discrepancies early (see Prosper's credit‑pull FAQ).

Definition: Reapplying for a Prosper loan always triggers a new hard pull of your TransUnion report. Prosper does not merge two applications into a single pull; each submitted application generates its own hard inquiry.

Examples:

• Jane applies, gets denied, and submits a second application two weeks later. Prosper runs a second hard pull, adding another inquiry to her TransUnion record.
• Mark uses Prosper's pre‑qualification tool first; this is a soft pull that does not affect his score. If he proceeds to a full application, only then does a hard pull occur, preventing an extra hard pull from the pre‑qualification step.
• Lisa waits 30 days after her first hard pull before reapplying. The new hard pull overwrites the older one on her TransUnion report, so she does not accumulate multiple standing inquiries.

For step‑by‑step guidance, see Prosper's explanation of credit pulls.

Prosper's primary use of the TransUnion report means the hard pull lands on that file, while the funded loan is reported as an installment account on Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion alike.

Enroll in a free credit‑monitoring service or pull each file through the free annual credit report portal to spot the new installment line, balance, and payment updates.

Configure real‑time alerts for status changes and dispute any inconsistency the same way you'd handle a TransUnion error; synchronized scores keep surprises at bay.