Do I have to pay every time to check my score?

[glaucus]

Hello,

On the advice of a few people on here, I signed up to receive my score and for score watch. I did this about two months ago. I got my credit report then, but now when I want to check my score, it seems I have to pay. I'm not sure why, and I don't know what I signed up for. I have recurring billing, and what does it actually get me? Thank you for any help or links you can offer.

[llecs]

Which product did you sign up for? If you click "My Account" at the top of this page, you'll see your one or two FICO scores (depending on what you purchased) with a section underneath the scores that says "Active Purchases".

[glaucus]

I have one Equifax score, and the only active thing is Score Watch.

[llecs]

SW is a monitoring service (around $15/mo) and monitors your EQ report for certain changes like balance increases, added inquiries, stati changes, etc. and will alert you to these changes through a credit alert. Whenever you get any of these alerts, then SW will alert you (usually within a day or two) and will provide you with your latest EQ FICO score. 

Absent credit alerts mentioned above, SW will also monitor your EQ FICO score for changes. Sometimes you can go months/years without any credit alert, but score alerts can happen if your new EQ FICO hits or surpasses your EQ FICO you set within settings. For best results, always set and reset your EQ FICO to exactly match your current EQ FICO. That way if your score increases or decreases, then you'll get alerted. When I first subscribed my current EQ FICO was around 550. I set my target to 750. It would have been years before I received any score alert had I not changed it sooner, and thus, it's important to always set and reset your EQ FICO in your Settings to exactly match your current EQ FICO. SW monitors your score for changes every 7-10 days.

Included with SW are two EQ FICO reports with the first being used when you subscribe. Upon renewal at one year, then you get two more.

Look within SW for your Alert History. Make sure no alerts came in absent an e-mail. If no alerts, then ponder any reason why you might get an alert in the last two months. Did any balances increase? Any new accounts? Any new inquiries on EQ? Is your target score set correctly?

[gaktheknife]

I have my score alert set at 610 which is my EQ FICO. I got an alert yesterday saying my scroe dropped below that threshold but doesnt tell me what the new score is. Thoughts?

[glaucus]

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation and help! I appreciate it. I have two questions though. First, the only setting I see is one that allows you to enter a traget score. I have had mine set to 1 point above where my score is now (631). However, if my score drops, I have no way of knowing. Secondly, I see a link to buy a new report/score, but no link indicating I have a free report that I can get. Essentially, I would like to know when any change in my score happens. Thanks so much for any additional help of ideas.

[llecs]

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@glaucus wrote:

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation and help! I appreciate it. I have two questions though. First, the only setting I see is one that allows you to enter a traget score. I have had mine set to 1 point above where my score is now (631). However, if my score drops, I have no way of knowing. Secondly, I see a link to buy a new report/score, but no link indicating I have a free report that I can get. Essentially, I would like to know when any change in my score happens. Thanks so much for any additional help of ideas.

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As mentioned, always set your target score to EXACTLY match your current score. As your score changes higher or lower, the threshold gets crossed and you'll get an alert either way. Everytime your score changes, try to immediately go back into that target and reset it. Lather, rinse, repeat.

SW provides 2 reports per year with the first being used when you first subscribe. The remaining should be showing if you haven't used it yet. IIRC, there is a delay on the 2nd if in the middle of the trial period or something like that. You can go into the My Account page and click on "View All Equifax Scores" found beneath your Eq FICO score. If you scroll into the history you should see a column for "View Until". Each report pulled or purchased will have that column filled by a date.

[sarkell]

I just got alert score being 651 now however my eq pulled by discover 667 so I'm going with that. At least shows some movement haha I think I'll keep it but I'd like to the cost down to 9.95 ill call tomorrow. I think it's somewhat helpful compared to other products. And keeps tc and fcr for the pulls to see how I'm progressing. I may change once I get to 720.

[rainbow85]

Hello smart people.

(I realized this question had already been asked previously by someone else and I didn't really get the response I was hoping to read so I thought I would try explain my situation.)

I signed up with Equifax and was able to check my credit score for the first time. Yay! From zero credit, having moved to the country recently, to a credit score of 627 now.   It's now two weeks later and I would like to update my score but its asking me to pay a fee to do this when I already pay $19 a month for the Equifax service. All I really want to know is: Do I need to pay every time I want to update my score? And secondly, If I give it time will my score automatically update if I check back later? (without having to pay further amounts.) I figured I might have tried to update it too soon after the last check-in and perhaps Equifax only update your score once a month. 

If I have to pay again to update my score every time - I am going to cancel my equifax membership as I see no purpose for it then. I'll check back on my score in a couple of months without having to pay the $19 per month.

Any response would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance for your help (I love these damn emoticons! Can you tell? haha)