How To Become A Credit Investigator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a credit investigator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

When you apply for credit, your application goes through a credit investigator who is responsible for evaluating your credit standing. Their primary responsibilities are to investigate the credit history and standing of businesses and individuals and obtain financial data relevant to their investigation. These duties help them determine the applicant's creditworthiness and recommend an appropriate action, which can either be a denial or approval.

Moreover, credit investigators may also be responsible for notifying clients of the result of their applications. However, some only recommend an action to the lender or bank so that they can make a final decision.

Higher education is not a strict requirement for this role, but it can serve as a great advantage, especially degrees in business, accounting, or finance. Employers may not also require related work experience but do prefer applicants to have a certain level of experience, ideally in a job with similar tasks.

Credit investigators typically work in offices during regular business hours. They make $17 an hour or $35,000 per year, on average, and can find plenty of opportunities in banks, insurance companies, lenders, and other financial institutions.

ScoreCredit InvestigatorUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,703

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.9

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 3.91%

Black or African American 10.47%

Hispanic or Latino 17.14%

Unknown 3.88%

White 64.03%

Gender

female 71.47%

male 28.53%

Age - 42.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42.5

Stress level

9.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a credit investigator

Explore credit investigator education requirements

Most common credit investigator degrees

Bachelor's

56.7 %

Associate

18.6 %

High School Diploma

16.4 %

Start to develop specific credit investigator skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Statements	14.79%
Loan Applications	10.44%
Credit Bureau Reports	7.08%
Credit Applications	7.01%
Credit Investigations	5.89%

Complete relevant credit investigator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New credit investigators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a credit investigator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real credit investigator resumes.

Research credit investigator duties and responsibilities

Manage accounting operations, accounting close, account reporting and reconciliations.
Utilize credit reports such as Experian, Transunion Equitifax.
Work on A/R and billing for a manufacturing company specializing in premium orthopedic, reconstructive and postoperative products.
Provide direct service with customers to process loan modifications, typically under SBA regulations.

Prepare your credit investigator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your credit investigator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a credit investigator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable credit investigator resume templates

Build a professional credit investigator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your credit investigator resume.