Free monthly scores

[Anonymous]

Anyone know what is the BEST way to get free scores from TU, EX and EQ monthly in the most used version? I have found free scores with the following credit cards and banks but I'm still searching for a way to find EQ so I can STOP paying $42 month for My Fico:

EXPERIAN (5/3/19: 642)

• EX Advantage Score - provided online Self-Lender (5/6/19, 627)
• EX FICO 8 - provided online Fingerhut - updated on 3rd (5/3/19, 650)

TRANSUNION (5/3/19: 668)

• TU FICO 8 provided as bank app for BoA  - updated on 19th (4/19/19, 648)
• TU FICO 8 provided online Discover rewards credit card - updated on 20th (4/20/19, 648)

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Anyone know what is the BEST way to get free scores from TU, EX and EQ monthly in the most used version? I have found free scores with the following credit cards and banks but I'm still searching for a way to find EQ so I can STOP paying $42 month for My Fico:

EXPERIAN (5/3/19: 642)

• EX Advantage Score - provided online Self-Lender (5/6/19, 627)
• EX FICO 8 - provided online Fingerhut - updated on 3rd (5/3/19, 650)

TRANSUNION (5/3/19: 668)

• TU FICO 8 provided as bank app for BoA  - updated on 19th (4/19/19, 648)
• TU FICO 8 provided online Discover rewards credit card - updated on 20th (4/20/19, 648)

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Langley FCU provides EQ FICO 8.

Citibank provides EQ FICO Bankcard 8.

Digital Federal Credit Union provides EQ FICO 5.

[Anonymous]

And also, the $1 trial at Credit Check Total will get you all three FICO 8 scores.  You can always cancel the minute after you grab the scores if you like and repeat the process monthly.

Given the wide range of free or ultra-low cost options out there I would certainly cancel your myFICO Ultimate subscription if you are looking to save yourself money. 

I am guessing that you are not planning on buying a house anytime soon, right?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

EXPERIAN (5/3/19: 642)

• EX Advantage Score - provided online Self-Lender (5/6/19, 627)
• EX FICO 8 - provided online Fingerhut - updated on 3rd (5/3/19, 650)

Note that there are loads of places get free Experian FICO scores:

     * Creditscore.com

     * Creditscorecard.com

     * Experian.com

As far as EQ goes, for monitoring purposes, the following would probably work fine:

*  A few times a year (two? three?) do the CreditCheck Total trial.

*  Within a few minutes of grabbing your CCT scores, grab your new Vantage scores at Karma

*  You'll probably see over time that your EQ Vantage tends to be X points higher or lower than the FICO 8.

*  Then use Karma as your regular monitoring tool.  If your Vantage score ever drops in some weirdly precipitous way, check your report to make sure something bad didn't happen and/or run the CCT trial again.

Of course if you get a Citi card or an account at Langley, that makes it even easier.

[Anonymous]

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the tips! I'm planning to buy next year...currently selling my townhome of 20+ years while renting a new place this past 15 mos. I think I've cleaned up all I can for now. I will miss the 3B report but other than that not sure what other benefit I'm paying for. There are so many score versions that I lose track which ones I need to be monitoring.

[Anonymous]

THanks for the recommendations! I don't have Citi or Langley card (yet) -- any idea what score either require to be a CC holder?

[Anonymous]

I believe that with Langley you just need a savings account.  DCU was another option that SouthJ mentioned and it too I believe requires only a savings account.  (DCU will enable you to track your EQ mortgage score over time.)  So if you don't mind opening a couple savings accounts those might be nice choices.

For Citi, as with any other CC issuer, there is not a score needed for the issuer (that would work for any of their products), but rather each product likely has a different score needed.  And furthermore score itself is likely only one thing.  Issuers consider a combination of score, income, existing debt, monthly rent/mortgage, and additional things on one's credit report (depending on the issuer -- e.g. Age of Oldest Account, number of cards opened in the last 24 months, number of cards opened in the last __ days, etc.).

My advice is never to apply for a card if the driving reason is chiefly to get a FICO score.  There are too many other ways to get FICO scores for free (or at almost no cost) without opening a new card.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for the tips! I'm planning to buy next year...currently selling my townhome of 20+ years while renting a new place this past 15 mos. I think I've cleaned up all I can for now. I will miss the 3B report but other than that not sure what other benefit I'm paying for. There are so many score versions that I lose track which ones I need to be monitoring.

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Well since you're planning to apply for a mortgage next year, the scores you should be focusing on are the mortgage scores:

EQ FICO 5, TU FICO 4, and EX FICO 2.

EQ FICO 5 you can get for free once a month at Digital Credit Union.

EX FICO 2 you can monitor on a daily basis with the EX Credit Watch service for $9.99 mo. + tax.

[Anonymous]

If you had to guess, when do you think you are most likely to buy?  Pick a month next year or perhaps a three-month period.