topic Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better? in General Credit Topics

MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 11:14:26 GMT

So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

mitchblue — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 11:18:14 GMT

Credit Karma can be good for somethings but it's a fako score, highly inaccurate. The scores can differ from myFico by 20, 40 even 100 points.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 11:31:47 GMT

Absolutely cancel this site and stick with Credit Karma. It's Free and it's reports are accurate. It makes no sense to pay for this site while you are gardening. The only issues with Credit Karma is the scores are not used by lenders so they are not very reliable, and the recommendations they give are simply ads. Other than that, Credit Karma is perfect.
They have easy to read and navigate reports, and from my experience they will give you email alerts of changes (inquiries, new accounts etc.) hours and sometimes days faster than myFico.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

mitchblue — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 11:37:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Absolutely cancel this site and stick with Credit Karma. It's Free and it's reports are accurate. It makes no sense to pay for this site while you are gardening. The only issues with Credit Karma is the scores are not used by lenders so they are not very reliable, and the recommendations they give are simply ads. Other than that, Credit Karma is perfect.
They have easy to read and navigate reports, and from my experience they will give you email alerts of changes (inquiries, new accounts etc.) hours and sometimes days faster than myFico.

It's called fako for a reason. Which is why no one uses them. If you want to use them fine, but if you want accurate scores please don't listen to YupYup. Though I tend to agree about not paying 29.99 a month for scores.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 12:11:20 GMT

If he is gardening, does he really need to pay for his scores?

Credit Karma gives you everything you get from here with the exception of scores (which he does not need) and EX, which he can get from another free site.
Credit Karma has a better interface imo, making it easier to look at your reports and they report changes much faster.

Credit Karma's reports are accurate and easier to view. No need to pay for them, and as I said, the scores CK gives you are not reliable.

So to answer the OP's question without being a **bleep**: No you don't need to waste $30/mo on this site because Credit Karma is free. When you want to come out of the garden and start applying for stuff, then you might want to pay for the scores here.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Thomas_Thumb — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:31:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If he is gardening, does he really need to pay for his scores?

Credit Karma gives you everything you get from here with the exception of scores (which he does not need) and EX, which he can get from another free site.
Credit Karma has a better interface imo, making it easier to look at your reports and they report changes much faster.

Credit Karma's reports are accurate and easier to view. No need to pay for them, and as I said, the scores CK gives you are not reliable.

So to answer the OP's question without being a **bleep**: No you don't need to waste $30/mo on this site because Credit Karma is free. When you want to come out of the garden and start applying for stuff, then you might want to pay for the scores here.

Free is good for credit monitoring and CK does a reasonable job. Other Fico credit monitoring is available through Experian (Experian Credit Tracker) for less. It used to cost $19.95/month but appears to have increased to $21.95/mo. Use free monitoring and save $240/yr to $360/yr - good decision.

VantageScore 3.0 is ok for score tracking. If you see a big shift, dig deeper and then get your Fico score if you have concerns. Alternatively, there are free monthly Fico 08 scores available through Discover card and AMEX.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Gunnar419 — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 14:08:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...

I'm also gardening with scores in the 800s. I can't say what you should do, but I canceled MyFico and for now monitor TU and EQ on Credit Karma only. I'm not using a free EX monitoring site, but I get an EX score from Amex, which would tell me if something went haywire on that CR. All three of my reports are frozen, too, so I don't have to worry about them.

The only place MyFico is superior is in giving real FICO scores on all bureaus and giving several types of FICO, which is a great feature. If you're gardening, though, that feature isn't needed.

If you're gardening, you might also want to freeze your reports for extra piece of mind.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 14:39:50 GMT

@Gunnar419 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...
I'm also gardening with scores in the 800s. I can't say what you should do, but I canceled MyFico and for now monitor TU and EQ on Credit Karma only. I'm not using a free EX monitoring site, but I get an EX score from Amex, which would tell me if something went haywire on that CR. All three of my reports are frozen, too, so I don't have to worry about them.

The only place MyFico is superior is in giving real FICO scores on all bureaus and giving several types of FICO, which is a great feature. If you're gardening, though, that feature isn't needed.

If you're gardening, you might also want to freeze your reports for extra piece of mind.

So I can get my TU and EQ scores from Credit Karma and I get my Experain through American Express now. Does looking at your credit scores on Credit Karma hurt your credit scores as a hard or soft pull? Thanks for all the imput, I am going to cancel this then .. Thanks

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 14:40:51 GMT

@Gunnar419 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...
I'm also gardening with scores in the 800s. I can't say what you should do, but I canceled MyFico and for now monitor TU and EQ on Credit Karma only. I'm not using a free EX monitoring site, but I get an EX score from Amex, which would tell me if something went haywire on that CR. All three of my reports are frozen, too, so I don't have to worry about them.

The only place MyFico is superior is in giving real FICO scores on all bureaus and giving several types of FICO, which is a great feature. If you're gardening, though, that feature isn't needed.

If you're gardening, you might also want to freeze your reports for extra piece of mind.

I have a credit freeze on my reports now is there anything else I can do to help with that? Thank you

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Gunnar419 — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:03:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Gunnar419 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...
I'm also gardening with scores in the 800s. I can't say what you should do, but I canceled MyFico and for now monitor TU and EQ on Credit Karma only. I'm not using a free EX monitoring site, but I get an EX score from Amex, which would tell me if something went haywire on that CR. All three of my reports are frozen, too, so I don't have to worry about them.

The only place MyFico is superior is in giving real FICO scores on all bureaus and giving several types of FICO, which is a great feature. If you're gardening, though, that feature isn't needed.

If you're gardening, you might also want to freeze your reports for extra piece of mind.
So I can get my TU and EQ scores from Credit Karma and I get my Experain through American Express now. Does looking at your credit scores on Credit Karma hurt your credit scores as a hard or soft pull? Thanks for all the imput, I am going to cancel this then .. Thanks

Looking at your reports on CK does not hurt your credit at all. It's not an HP. HOWEVER, on CK it's the reports you want to see, not the scores.

CK scores are Vantage 3, which hs very little real world use. They are not FICOs. What CK will give you is a good look at your TU and EQ reports.

Amex will give you a real EX FICO, but no detailed look at your credit report. It sounds like you're doing everything right and the only thing you might want to add is a free service that monitors your EX report. IIRC, Credit Sesame or Credit.com do this, but again you should pay very little attention to their scores. It's their report summaries you want.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

elim — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:11:23 GMT

@Gunnar419 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Gunnar419 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...
I'm also gardening with scores in the 800s. I can't say what you should do, but I canceled MyFico and for now monitor TU and EQ on Credit Karma only. I'm not using a free EX monitoring site, but I get an EX score from Amex, which would tell me if something went haywire on that CR. All three of my reports are frozen, too, so I don't have to worry about them.

The only place MyFico is superior is in giving real FICO scores on all bureaus and giving several types of FICO, which is a great feature. If you're gardening, though, that feature isn't needed.

If you're gardening, you might also want to freeze your reports for extra piece of mind.
So I can get my TU and EQ scores from Credit Karma and I get my Experain through American Express now. Does looking at your credit scores on Credit Karma hurt your credit scores as a hard or soft pull? Thanks for all the imput, I am going to cancel this then .. Thanks
Looking at your reports on CK does not hurt your credit at all. It's not an HP. HOWEVER, on CK it's the reports you want to see, not the scores.

CK scores are Vantage 3, which hs very little real world use. They are not FICOs. What CK will give you is a good look at your TU and EQ reports.

Amex will give you a real EX FICO, but no detailed look at your credit report. It sounds like you're doing everything right and the only thing you might want to add is a free service that monitors your EX report.

CK and CCT will cost a total of $15 a month (cancel CCT and accept counter). This would bring you...

Daily EX reports

Daily FICO EX scores

weekly TU reports

monthly TU FICO scores

weekly EQ reports

monthly EQ FICO scores

weekly Vantage3 TU scores

weekly Vantage3 EQ scores

Plenty of monitoring there also

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Thomas_Thumb — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:34:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

You can get free EX through Credit.com - Again score like CK is VS 3.0 which allows you to compare all three directly. Credit.com also has EX National Equivalency score as their primary. I think their info only updates monthly.

As mentioned, AMEX provides a monthly EX Fico 08 spot check (you have to manually check it on the AMEX web site).

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

takeshi74 — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 02:47:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma?

I find the access to TU and EQ report data with weekly updates and access to historical data useful. You'd need to find another solution for EX.

@mitchblue wrote:
Credit Karma can be good for somethings but it's a fako score, highly inaccurate. The scores can differ from myFico by 20, 40 even 100 points.

All scores are accurate but only for their own scoring model. You cannot use a score generated by one model to determine a score generated by a different model. Differnet models use different algoithms that weight report data differently and you should expect them to produce different results. Two different models can produce coincidentally close or even the same numbers in certain situations but remember that coincidental is not the same thing as causal. Additionally, VantageScores are not designed to mimic a FICO model.

Even FICO models can vary in the numbers generated. Do not rely on gross oversimplifciations such as real, fake, accurate, etc. Always consider relevance of a given model. While most creditors use one of the FICO models there are creditors that use VantageScores. Even with FICO the specific model matters. A TU FICO 8, for example will not be relevant if the creditor/product uses an EQ FICO 4.

@mitchblue wrote:
It's called fako for a reason.

Because it's not a FICO but that doesn't really mean much in and of itself. Educational FAKO's are useless since no creditor uses them. Again, even with FICO's the specific model matters and you cannot assume all FICO models to be equivalent. A "real" score doesn't mean anything with respect to a given creditor/product if the creditor/product doesn't use that model.

@Anonymous wrote:
It makes no sense to pay for this site while you are gardening.

@Anonymous wrote:
If he is gardening, does he really need to pay for his scores?

It may not make sense to you but it's not just a matter of gardening or not for everyone. There are those that aren't gardening that don't pay for FICO's. There are those that garden that pay for FICO's. It's up to each to determine which solutions work for the individual.

In this case the OP apparently doesn't want to pay for them.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 19:05:21 GMT

@elim wrote:
@Gunnar419 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Gunnar419 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...
I'm also gardening with scores in the 800s. I can't say what you should do, but I canceled MyFico and for now monitor TU and EQ on Credit Karma only. I'm not using a free EX monitoring site, but I get an EX score from Amex, which would tell me if something went haywire on that CR. All three of my reports are frozen, too, so I don't have to worry about them.

The only place MyFico is superior is in giving real FICO scores on all bureaus and giving several types of FICO, which is a great feature. If you're gardening, though, that feature isn't needed.

If you're gardening, you might also want to freeze your reports for extra piece of mind.
So I can get my TU and EQ scores from Credit Karma and I get my Experain through American Express now. Does looking at your credit scores on Credit Karma hurt your credit scores as a hard or soft pull? Thanks for all the imput, I am going to cancel this then .. Thanks
Looking at your reports on CK does not hurt your credit at all. It's not an HP. HOWEVER, on CK it's the reports you want to see, not the scores.

CK scores are Vantage 3, which hs very little real world use. They are not FICOs. What CK will give you is a good look at your TU and EQ reports.

Amex will give you a real EX FICO, but no detailed look at your credit report. It sounds like you're doing everything right and the only thing you might want to add is a free service that monitors your EX report.

CK and CCT will cost a total of $15 a month (cancel CCT and accept counter). This would bring you...

Daily EX reports
Daily FICO EX scores
weekly TU reports
monthly TU FICO scores
weekly EQ reports
monthly EQ FICO scores
weekly Vantage3 TU scores
weekly Vantage3 EQ scores

Plenty of monitoring there also

Exactly what I do.

Re: MyFICO vs. Credit Karma which would be better?

thom02099 — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 21:56:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So I now have a clean report and just want to monitor my credit in case something crazy happens like fraud etc:. I have been uneasy for years about Credit Karma however everyone on this board seems to have great reviews of the site and its FREE. I am paying $29.99 per month here at MYFICO and I am basically gardening for the next year with my scores over 800 now. If Credit Karma really is a good site and legit like everyone here says then would it not make sense to cancel here save the money and just montior my credit off Credit Karma? Thanks for your imput...

You've really answered your own question !

You've reached a goal you presumably set for yourself, in that your scores are currently over 800. You're not seeking new credit for the next year. Those are the facts you stated.

The reality is, scores only matter if you're seeking new credit (heresy here, I know ). The contents of the report can matter all the time, depending on your file and your short- and long-term plans.

CreditKarma is good for monitoring TRENDS in your credit history. They have improved substantially over the years. The contents of your reports are what you want to be able to access regularly, and you can do that for free with CK. Not so much with MyFICO products.

When I retired last year, I had to cut expenses, and lots of little ones were history. That included MyFICO monitoring. Since I'm not applying for new credit and my scores are over 800 (like yours), it just didn't make sense to pay for something that I'm really not going to need or use. IF I feel the need to get my various model scores, I can always simply make a purchase, as you can as well.

Use something like CK to monitor the TRENDS and if you have a burning need to see your true scores, make a purchase. You could do that as frequently as you want, or as infrequently as you want. For me, I'm at that point where once every 4-6 months is plenty to see ALL the true FICO scores, the various models. Since I have credit cards with all of the providers of free FICO scores (Discover, Citi, AMEX), unless something goes wacko, there's really no need for anything else from a pay site. TRENDS from CK, scores from Discover, Citi, AMEX...pretty good deal.