topic Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor in Rebuilding Your Credit

How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

xecutech — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:16:54 GMT

I finally signed up for USAA Credit Monitor and noticed that my report looks better with it than the free credit monitors I used. I was wondering how many of you use this service, and have you found it to be reliable?

I still don't have a fico score, so myfico is not an option at the moment.

I did have my wife add me as an AU on her credit card with a 3k limit, but it's not reporting as of yet.

Also, I don't see where you can do daily pulls with USSA's service, it says once every 30 days?

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

rm3 — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:36:15 GMT

I have been using the USAA cms for over a year. When I signed up it was daily pulls. They changed it a few months back but I called to cancel and they extended my daily pulls for 6 months. It may be worth a try to call customer service and see if they will change to daily pulls. I love the cms. I pull daily faithfully to monitor balance updates as I lower my utilization and to watch for any changes. The scores are absolute Fakos. My EQ fako is 578, here is 641. TU fako is 656, here is 687.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

xecutech — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:16:59 GMT

Thanks for the feedback. I may give them a call to see what they will do. I would at least like to check it once a week if anything.

I like the layout, but it's a pain in the butt to find and log into when I want to view it. Is there another link that I am missing?

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

rm3 — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:29:49 GMT

I launch the cms from My Accounts as soon as I log in. Its listed under my savings and checking account. It says CreditCheck Monitoring Premium from Experian. I click on the link and it loads a new web page asking for the last four of my social. I'm then logged in and can see all the info from all three cra. Hope this helps.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

kroberts67 — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:52:04 GMT

I pay $22 for daily pulls. Their scoring is PLUS which bugs, but I do like the layout and convenience of all 3 together.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

rm3 — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:05:52 GMT

@kroberts67 Have you always paid $22? I pay $11.12. Might want to give them a call. The customer service is excellent!

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:49:06 GMT

I use USAA but has me lower than here by 30 points. I am not complaining because if i can get that one up this one will go up also.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:07:22 GMT

I use USAA's / Experian's daily credit monitoring & scores services EXTENSIVELY so I'm quite familiar with it.

For thos asking - here's how you get the daily 3 bureau credit reports and scores:

1. You're probably using the one, 3 bureau report package for $12 per month (it's 12 and some change but I don't remember anymore).

2. Pull your one, 3 bureau credit report for the month if you haven't done so already.

3. If more than a day's past since doing that, click the REFRESH button on the left side of your screen again. Once you do that, it will say you have your free 3 bureau report already and WOULD YOU LIKE TO UPGRADE - for $22.94 - to their unlimited 3 bureau and scores package? Obviously you do and pay. You will then be charged $22.94 per month for the service.

TIP: It's not really "unlimited": you can pull ONE 3 bureau report and 3 Experian/TransUnion/Equifax scores (NOT FICO) DAILY.

I have pulled reports directly from all 3 credit bureaus, different free services and of course from USAA: the reports are up-to-date and what you generate in your report (wonderfully formatted and easy to understand) is ACCURATE as to what the 3 majors have in their systems at that momemt.

Again, I wouldn't pay too much attention to the score(s) generated but my experience is the following: if your "Experian" score(s) have gone up or down, it's highly likely that your FICO score has also moved up or down. I have carefully monitored what Experian's score tell me daily vs. what my FICO score is daily and they both move in the same direction. The pattern I've gotten is is Experian shows your score increasing by a huge margin in a day (usually the result of a major event like a negative coming off or coming on), your FICO will also move in the same direction by a large degree, too.

If you don't have access to your FICO score at the moment, your USAA/Experian service scores that are generated will give you a FAIR idea of which direction you're going and if any major (or even minor) events are affecting your credit scores.

On the whole, if you like and need to know what's going on with your credit daily, awesome service. I know EXACTLY when accounts are coming on, coming off, when my credit providers have updated (like after a statement is cut), what they're reporting, etc. It's all there and it's totally up-to-date.

I use this service in addition to paying for myFICO.com services (Score Watch for TU & EQ), Credit Karma, etc. and I find USAA's the most helpful and useful package of all of them.

myFICO, in my opinion, is great for the alerts (which the USAA service has too) but it's even better for the Power Score reports they generate which one doesn't really need daily - or even monthly - but quarterly. That's just me.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

xecutech — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:27:59 GMT

Thank you for the thorough overview on them. This is pretty much what I was wondering.

I may upgrade for the $22 version after I wait a few weeks. We just now paid off all of our bad debts and working on paying off, or down, our current good credit lines.

Thank you.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

kroberts67 — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:13:45 GMT

@rm3 wrote:
@kroberts67 Have you always paid $22? I pay $11.12. Might want to give them a call. The customer service is excellent!

I upgraded to the daily pulls, ie what unusuallyconfused was referring to. I'm obsessive about my credit right now so until there's a better deal, I'll be paying it. And yes, I love their service so far! I'm new to them but have loved everything they've done for me in the last few weeks. I'm actually dittoing what unusuallyconfused does, I have myFICO for $9.95 month and credit karma-- I have yet to figure our their scores. I just look at the report.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 20:17:26 GMT

I'm waiting for an update on a couple of my husbands accounts (balance change, limit increase). I use myFico Score Watch but am getting anxious to see if the changes have been reported yet. Should I sign up for USSA so I can check it everyday this week? I know some users say Score Watch is delayed.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

unc0mm0n1 — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 15:27:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm waiting for an update on a couple of my husbands accounts (balance change, limit increase). I use myFico Score Watch but am getting anxious to see if the changes have been reported yet. Should I sign up for USSA so I can check it everyday this week? I know some users say Score Watch is delayed.

I have daily pulls and my score hasn't changed in two months. Like most things USAA does this might be a ripoff.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

NYSuperdoodle — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 01:39:24 GMT

I recently signed up for the USAA service, and I think it's great. Of course, I like USAA. I use them for a ton of other services too.

I especially like being able to monitor any daily changes in my CR scores, as my CR scores are changing (increasing) rapidly as I am finally focusing on my credit ratings. Whether they are precise or not is irrelevant. They are accurate, and that is what is of value to me.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

bk510 — Thu, 01 May 2014 08:37:41 GMT

@rm3 wrote:
I have been using the USAA cms for over a year. When I signed up it was daily pulls. They changed it a few months back but I called to cancel and they extended my daily pulls for 6 months. It may be worth a try to call customer service and see if they will change to daily pulls. I love the cms. I pull daily faithfully to monitor balance updates as I lower my utilization and to watch for any changes. The scores are absolute Fakos. My EQ fako is 578, here is 641. TU fako is 656, here is 687.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

bk510 — Thu, 01 May 2014 08:40:46 GMT

@kroberts67 wrote:
I pay $22 for daily pulls. Their scoring is PLUS which bugs, but I do like the layout and convenience of all 3 together.

Agree, very user friendly interface and clean. I love it.

I pay 11 and some change for daily at 6 months interval. I call every 6 months and get it extended for anothre 6 months.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

bk510 — Thu, 01 May 2014 08:41:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I use USAA but has me lower than here by 30 points. I am not complaining because if i can get that one up this one will go up also.

Thats xactly how I look at it also.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

bk510 — Thu, 01 May 2014 08:43:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I use USAA's / Experian's daily credit monitoring & scores services EXTENSIVELY so I'm quite familiar with it.

For thos asking - here's how you get the daily 3 bureau credit reports and scores:

1. You're probably using the one, 3 bureau report package for $12 per month (it's 12 and some change but I don't remember anymore).

2. Pull your one, 3 bureau credit report for the month if you haven't done so already.

3. If more than a day's past since doing that, click the REFRESH button on the left side of your screen again. Once you do that, it will say you have your free 3 bureau report already and WOULD YOU LIKE TO UPGRADE - for $22.94 - to their unlimited 3 bureau and scores package? Obviously you do and pay. You will then be charged $22.94 per month for the service.

TIP: It's not really "unlimited": you can pull ONE 3 bureau report and 3 Experian/TransUnion/Equifax scores (NOT FICO) DAILY.

I have pulled reports directly from all 3 credit bureaus, different free services and of course from USAA: the reports are up-to-date and what you generate in your report (wonderfully formatted and easy to understand) is ACCURATE as to what the 3 majors have in their systems at that momemt.

Again, I wouldn't pay too much attention to the score(s) generated but my experience is the following: if your "Experian" score(s) have gone up or down, it's highly likely that your FICO score has also moved up or down. I have carefully monitored what Experian's score tell me daily vs. what my FICO score is daily and they both move in the same direction. The pattern I've gotten is is Experian shows your score increasing by a huge margin in a day (usually the result of a major event like a negative coming off or coming on), your FICO will also move in the same direction by a large degree, too.

If you don't have access to your FICO score at the moment, your USAA/Experian service scores that are generated will give you a FAIR idea of which direction you're going and if any major (or even minor) events are affecting your credit scores.

On the whole, if you like and need to know what's going on with your credit daily, awesome service. I know EXACTLY when accounts are coming on, coming off, when my credit providers have updated (like after a statement is cut), what they're reporting, etc. It's all there and it's totally up-to-date.

I use this service in addition to paying for myFICO.com services (Score Watch for TU & EQ), Credit Karma, etc. and I find USAA's the most helpful and useful package of all of them.

myFICO, in my opinion, is great for the alerts (which the USAA service has too) but it's even better for the Power Score reports they generate which one doesn't really need daily - or even monthly - but quarterly. That's just me.

I only wish that I could see all my soft pulls on usaa.....But can't

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

bk510 — Thu, 01 May 2014 08:45:33 GMT

@kroberts67 wrote:
@rm3 wrote:
@kroberts67 Have you always paid $22? I pay $11.12. Might want to give them a call. The customer service is excellent!
I upgraded to the daily pulls, ie what unusuallyconfused was referring to. I'm obsessive about my credit right now so until there's a better deal, I'll be paying it. And yes, I love their service so far! I'm new to them but have loved everything they've done for me in the last few weeks. I'm actually dittoing what unusuallyconfused does, I have myFICO for $9.95 month and credit karma-- I have yet to figure our their scores. I just look at the report.

I love usaa also. But the only thing I'm disappointed at is fact that you can't see the soft pulls. damn it

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

bk510 — Thu, 01 May 2014 08:47:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm waiting for an update on a couple of my husbands accounts (balance change, limit increase). I use myFico Score Watch but am getting anxious to see if the changes have been reported yet. Should I sign up for USSA so I can check it everyday this week? I know some users say Score Watch is delayed.

I believe ita worth every penny. I'm going on 2 yrs now. love it.

Re: How Accurate is USAA Credit Monitor

tomfromrictmame — Thu, 01 May 2014 15:26:20 GMT

Just a word of caution. I have been using USAA for almost a year, and there is a recent development that's very problematic for me. Up until 2 months ago, I had a TL that was showing as derog on all 3 CRs; it's been reporting that way correctly since I started my membership. It started to be removed from the consolidated (daily report) and after a month os so, it was gone completely. I can (and do) pull my actual reports individually from the 3 CRA's and I can see (and they have confirmed to me over the phone), the derog TL is in fact still on my report.

I haven't spoken with anyone at USAA yet, but this discrepancy is troubling.