Credit reports/credit scores

[Anonymous]

What tools are folks using to get their credit report/credit score?

I know if I'm denied or don't get the best offering, I can get a free copy of my credit report / score directly from Experian/Equifax/Transunion when apping for cards, but it seems like some people are able to track their credit scores more frequently. Is there a free service for this?

Annualcreditreport.com is the free yearly credit report that is free based on law, and doesn't require a CC app or anything, right? But that's only once a year? What's the service people use to check it more frequently and online?

[Anonymous]

Credit Karma provides both Transunion and Equifax. The scores they provide are useless, but the files are complete. And it's free. Credit.com provides Experian data. Also worthless score, but also free.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! When did these services come out? When did getting free and updated information about your credit report become a thing? I always thought you had to either pay or have a denial/not-best credit offer.

[Anonymous]

They've been around for several years. There are also many others such as Credit Sesame, Quizzle, Mint, etc etc.

[Anonymous]

As mentioned by CAPTOOL, the free TU/Equifax reports at Credit Karma are fairly valuable. I have slightly different POV regarding the scores. I will agree that the scores are useless if you are comparing the CK score with the "official" MyFICO score. They may have the same numerical scale but I would never base major financial decisions on a FAKO score such as CK.

On the other hand, I do think the CK score is valuable for historical trending and as "alarm system" if there is a sudden drop.

Example: You might be trending at a CK score of 700 for several months when all of a sudden, your score drops to 650. The numerical value isn't too important, the drop would be. That should trigger you to take a look at the respective report to see what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I'll go ahead and open up a Credit Karma and also Credit.com account then. Appreciate the info! Also, I have had Mint for a while but when they told me they had free credit scores I thought it'd just be a link to annualcreditreport.com or something........huh!

[takeshi74]

People use a variety of sources and services.

You can always pull reports directly from the CRA's and/or via the Annual Credit Report site.  You can always purchase FICO 8's and some other FICO's directly from myFICO.

There are also countless free and paid services that offer access to reports and scores with varying time intervals between updates and various scoring models offered.  Credit Karma and Credit Sesame are a couple of the free options mentioned above.  CreditCheck Total has been a recently popular pay option and there are recent active threads on it if you're interested in getting daily reports and FICO 8 scores for EX and 3/month for the other two.  Part of the reason for its popularity is that many have been able to get a discounted rate by canceling during the trial period.

Eliminate ID Theft/My Privacy Matters has been another popular option for daily reports on all three due to its low price but it does not offer FICO's.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Also, I have had Mint for a while but when they told me they had free credit scores I thought it'd just be a link to annualcreditreport.com or something........huh!

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The Annual Credit Report does not includes scores.  It is just reports.  Mint only offers a score.  It's FAKO but I don't recall which one.  Make sure you pay attention to the specific scoring model used and do not assume them to all be the same.  Make sure that the scores youre referencing are the ones that your creditors actually use.  Most sites indicate what model they use but if you're having trouble finding the info then there's probably a prior discussion here that covers it.

[Anonymous]

Trying to get a service with Experian...I noticed Credit.com does charge for that service, albeit it's only $1. Are there any truly free sources for Experian?

Also, CK updates weekly, right? Are there ones for Experian that will be mentioned as frequent?

[Anonymous]

I would not use myfico for reliable scores or reported data.  I had a BK 5 years ago and one of my accounts on myfico experian score shows late payments and collections.  This is wrong. It was included in the BK but never charged off.  We continued to make on time payments and paid it off.  The actual report is correct.  I called myfico to let them know they were somehow interpreting the information wrong.  They of course told me to contact Experian.  I called Experian after we hung up and sure enough that account shows NEVER LATE and never sent to collections.  For some reason myfico is showing late 5 months and sent to collections.  Their customer service was terrible because they figureed I was wrong from the start by default.  It is good news for me that Experican has it correct.  I just wanted that correct information shown correctly on myfico. Also, the myfco score 655 and when I went into the bank a week ago for a CC limit raise, Experian showed 713.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Trying to get a service with Experian...I noticed Credit.com does charge for that service, albeit it's only $1. Are there any truly free sources for Experian?

Also, CK updates weekly, right? Are there ones for Experian that will be mentioned as frequent?

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I've had a credit.com account for quite some time, and it's free. Not sure where you're seeing a charge. Yes, CK updates weekly. No, there are no free services providing Experian data that update that frequently.