myFico and Experian Credit Tracker questions

[Anonymous]

I looked at the TOS and didn't see this as against them. It seems odd to ask about the host's services and a 'competitor'. But here goes...

I've had the myFico 3B service for about 6 months. I got it for DH and for I as we started working towards refi and new cars. I jumped into the world of CCs along the way. Now that things are pretty well set for the time being, I dropped it on DH and I'm deciding what I want to move forward with for me. 

What I have seems to be a grandfathered 24.95 3B. There's a new 3B that's 29.95 that comes with more bells and whistles that shows on the sites now. I thought 'ooh, it'd be good to see those scores more often' but I'm not applying for anything soon, so there's no reason. It evidently comes with Identity theft monitoring. Not sure what that entails, but if it's worthwhile, it would seem that if I'm going to keep myFico maybe it makes sense to bump up for just a bit more a month. I thought about dropping down to the 1B but EQ doesn't excite me. 

I've been wanting to see SPs on EX so I was looking into the Experian products. I found two conflicting things that I can't reconcile. 

$1 trial and $21.95 a month and $4.95 trial and $19.95 a month. Both on the EX site (got to them by clicking on various things) and they seem to be for the same thing. Obviously if it was something I just wanted to check out and didn't keep, the $1 trial is better. But if I decide I want to keep it, $19.95 a month is better. Anyone know what's different, or if anything is? I figure maybe I'll check out their service and see if I want to use it as a replacement for myFico. I could live with just EX tracking if I like the website etc. I had checked it out previously but back then I think it was FAKO. I think now it's the real deal. 

Anyone have any insight? Personal opinions also welcome. 

[Anonymous]

I was bored yesterday and got ex tracker.  I did the $5 for first month and got a 50% discount for 6 months.  So $10 a month.  Daily report and fico score is nice.  I cancelled cct friday but have it until nov 1st so getting ex tracker was pointless lol.  But its nice to see daily reports with ex and if you see something update via ck you can buy the necessary fico from here.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I looked at the TOS and didn't see this as against them. It seems odd to ask about the host's services and a 'competitor'. But here goes...

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Other services are frequently discussed here.

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@Anonymous wrote:

It evidently comes with Identity theft monitoring. Not sure what that entails, but if it's worthwhile, it would seem that if I'm going to keep myFico maybe it makes sense to bump up for just a bit more a month.

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Worth is always highly subjective on any topic so you really to make that call.  It's not so much a matter of the service itself but how much protection you want.  The only info I quickly found on the identifity theft monitoring is on this page:

http://www.myfico.com/products/fico-ultimate-3b/

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@Anonymous wrote:

I figure maybe I'll check out their service and see if I want to use it as a replacement for myFico.

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These services are similar but not exactly the same.  myFICO is trigger based and only gives you quarterly access to your reports.  The other services give you more frequent access and score updates are not trigger based.

http://myfico.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/463/~/understanding-what-triggers-fico%C2%AE-3-bureau-credit-monitoring-and-fico%C2%AE-identity

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think now it's the real deal. 

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Be careful relying on oversimplifications such as "real".  The Experian services do offer FICO 8's but FICO has many models used by creditors so you need to careful relying on the numbers.  See also the Understanding FICO Scoring subforum and its stickies.  FICO 8 is a real FICO but it's not going to be relevant, for example, if a given creditor you use pulls a FICO 8 bankcard, FICO NextGen, mortgage scores, etc.  FICO 8's are very common but they're not used by all creditors and/or all products.  Always consider the specific scoring model if you're relying on the numbers.

I personally find having more frequent access to my report data much more useful than scores though I do get some scores from my creditors.

You might want to also look at the CreditCheck Total (which is an Experian company) threads.  Not sure what the current situation is but many were able to negotiate a reduced rate.