Citi bank credit card complimentary credit score

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I have a Citi Forward card and was browsing through the citi website. Citi offers a complementary credit score. It says it is based on the Experian score.

Has anybody used that before? I assume it's a soft pull, anybody know for sure?

If you guys have any info on that, please share.

Thanks.

[Scuba]

FICO is the gold standard and if it was a true FICO score, they would have that all over their web site. 

A Experian FICO score would make Citi a real sought after card.  They would get so much new business, they would do what that Pennsylvania CU did, restrict their offering.  They would have so much new cash, they couldnt invest it all

It's not the real deal and therefore, a useless score. 

Can you tell I am bitter because the will not let me back in?  I'll get over it in 2 years when my CR is pristine.

[Anonymous]

I know its not  the real deal.  An Experian FICO is hard to come by. I'm just saying it's free. Why not use it if you don't have to pay for it. If anybody out there has used it please share your experience.

[chasmith]

That's the Experian FAKO, Citi used to sell an Experian based three-bureau report/score service similar to the USAA one.  I don't know if Citi still does.

[Scuba]

Come to think of it, I have access to a free Experian FAKO around the 5th each month from US Bank and I do look at it.

The US Bank Experian FAKO has me at 699 and when I asked BOA for a CLI (denied) they said my Experian FICO was 725.

I want to close the US Bank CC because the CL is so low and I think I lose very little: low credit line, free FAKO, but I do use the credit protection in case I get hit by a bus.  But I don't think the free FAKO and credit protection is enough to keep the account alive. 

If I do cancel the card, I will reapply in 3 years when I don't have any baddies on my report and maybe they will give me a larger CL.   

[bettercreditguy1]

You can use a non Fico score to follow your credit . Although it is not used by any lenders, it can show you the trending (improvement or going backwards) with your journey.

I use mine just for a benchmark of the same. It is less expensive to purchase an Experian Report with their score than a Fico score all of the time. Plus, individual reports from TU EQ and EX have more details included than the Fico purchased reports here and elsewhere. You can also purchase a TU or EQ score as well from them when you directly purchase a credit report from them or annualcredit.com.

[Anonymous]

I am checking my TU and EX FAKO's thru credit karma and credit sesame. I know FAKO's can be quite off from real FICO scores but at least they can give you general tendency where you're credit is headed. Checking your real FICO scores all the time can get expensive. 

I think I will try Cit's complimentary score. It's free and nothing can beat that.

I have one more question, I have an AMEX and I saw they offer you a free credit score and report

https://search.americanexpress.com/app/answers/display/a_id/2139/kw/exclusive%20offers

Anybody tried that one before?

[bettercreditguy1]

I believe the AMEX offer is included in their monthly monitoring. If I remember, there is a charge for this service.