Contents
Introduction
In this post we will look at what credit bureau Citibank pulls for credit card applications. We’re only going to look at data from 2014 onwards that is listed on the creditboards credit pulls database.
You can also read other posts in this series by clicking below:
Table Key & Combined Stats
To keep things easy, we will use the following acronyms.
EX = Experian
EQ = Equifax
TU = TransUnion
NI = No information
The number next to the acronym represents the number of data points we have. In total we have 458 data points sourced from the Credit Boards Credit Pull page. Of those applications:
- 241Â or ~52.62% of all applications pulled an Experian credit report
- 175 or ~38.21%  of all applications pulled an Equifax credit report
- 42 or ~9.17% of all applications pulled an TransUnion credit report
Abbrevation | State Name | Credit Bureau Pulled |
AL | Alabama | Â EQ: 1 |
AK | Alaska | Â NI |
AZ | Arizona | Â EX: 3 EQ: 3 TU: 1 |
AR | Arkansas | Â TU: 3 |
CA | California (CA) | Â EX: 48 EQ: 16 TU: 6 |
CO | Colorado | Â EX: 2 EQ: 1 |
CT | Connecticut | Â EX: 3 EQ: 6 TU: 1 |
DE | Delaware | Â EX: 3 EQ: 5 |
FL | Florida | Â EX: 17 EQ: 14 TU: 1 |
GA | Georgia | Â EX: 7 EQ: 3 |
HI | Hawaii | Â EQ: 3 |
ID | Idaho | Â EX: 1 |
IL | Illinois | Â EX: 10 EQ: 13 TU: 1 |
IN | Indiana | Â EX: 3 TU: 1 |
IA | Iowa | Â EX: 2 |
KS | Kansas | Â NI |
KY | Kentucky | Â EX: 4 EQ: 4 |
LA | Louisiana | Â EQ: 1 TU: 2 |
ME | Maine | Â EQ: 1 TU: 1 |
MD | Maryland | Â EX: 7 EQ: 3 |
MA | Massachusetts | Â EX: 4 EQ: 3 |
MI | Michigan | Â EX: 10 EQ: 7 TU: 1 |
MN | Minnesota | Â EX: 1 EQ: 3 |
MS | Mississippi | Â NI |
MO | Missouri | Â EX: 2 EQ: 1 TU: 1 |
MT | Montana | Â EQ: 1 |
NE | Nebraska | Â NI |
NV | Nevada | Â EX: 3 EQ: 3 |
NH | New Hampshire | Â EX: 2 EQ: 4 |
NJ | New Jersey | Â EX: 4 EQ: 1 TU: 1 |
NM | New Mexico | Â EX: 1 |
NY | New York | Â EX: 18 EQ: 14 TU: 8 |
NC | North Carolina | Â EX: 12 EQ: 13 TU: 2 |
ND | North Dakota | Â NI |
OH | Ohio | Â EX: 6 |
OK | Oklahoma | Â EX: 2 EQ: 4 |
OR | Oregon | Â EX: 7 EQ: 3 TU: 1 |
PA | Pennsylvania | Â EX: 22 EQ: 2 TU: 5 |
RI | Rhode Island | Â NI |
SC | South Carolina | Â EQ: 1 |
SD | South Dakota | Â EX: 2 EQ: 1 TU: 1 |
TN | Tennessee | Â EX: 2 EQ: 6 TU: 1 |
TX | Texas | Â EX: 32 EQ: 10 TU: 2 |
UT | Utah | Â TU: 2 |
VT | Vermont | Â NI |
VA | Virginia | Â EX: 5 EQ: 7 TU: 1 |
WA | Washington | Â EX: 8 EQ: 7 TU: 4 |
WV | West Virginia | Â NI |
WI | Wisconsin | Â EX: 3 |
WY | Wyoming | Â NI |
DC | District Of Colombia | Â EX: 3 |
What Happens If Your Report Is Frozen?
If you have a frozen report with Citibank, they are unwilling to pull a different report unless that report is Experian. You can give them a PIN to access the report they want to pull, allowing you to keep that report frozen.
Our Verdict
Citibank will mostly use your Experian report – with Equifax also being quite likely. In rare cases they will pull your TransUnion report instead.
In CO: Citi pulled EX for a Strata Premier. Tried freezing EX in hopes Citi would pull EQ instead, but app paused and gave me 15 minutes to remove freeze from EX to proceed.
In CA: Citi pulled Equifax for Simplicity. Pleasant surprise as CA is so Experian-heavy across almost all major card issuers.
In TX: Citi pulled Equifax for AAdvantage Business. I asked to use Experian instead since I had EQ frozen, but they wouldn’t switch.
In FL: Citi pulled Equifax for AAdvantage Biz card.
In WI: Citi pulled Equifax for AAdvantage Platinum Select application.
In NY: Pulled Experian for Strata Premier. Had it frozen but Citi asked to unfreeze. Other two were not frozen
In IL (Illinois): Pulled Equifax for both Citi Double Cash and Strata Premier
6/12/24 – WA
Froze Experian. Citi asked me to unfreeze so they could pull Experian.
In VA: Pulled Eq for AA Platinum, all three bureaus unfrozen.
1/28/24, NY: Froze Experian, Pulled Equifax for Citi Custom Cash