Its 2 free reports each year and then you can pay a discounted fee after that if you want more, but I would recommend a different CMS if you want regular report updates. SW is great for score tracking though. It will alert when a credit card balance changes, when a new account reports, when new inquiries hit your equifax, and when your FICO changes past your target (set this to your current score for updates in either direction). I get alerts very frequently, but I have a lot of balances that change monthly.
EX:694 TU:744 EQ:777Its a 30% discount. I have never used it, since I don't pay for reports through SW. I use EIDT / myprivacymatters for daily report pulls. I like the 3-in-1 format and it allows me to track my reports whenever I feel like it for a cheap price. I get my EX FICO through PSECU and my TU FICO through Barclays.
-and- I pay monthly for Score Watch to monitor my Equifax FICO changes because the service is great. You could get a free EQ FICO through DCU, but for the price of SW and the frequency of the updates, I think it is worth it. If you don't have many accounts or find that your balances don't change and you don't get updates very often, maybe it is not worth it for you. Your other CMS's may be great for monitoring your reports (and that may be all that you need at this point), but they don't give you FICO scores.
yes, I used to use USAA as well. It was a great service for tracking report changes. The USAA scores are Experian PLUS FAKO scores, however.
@keithB wrote:Haha, what's with all the trickery of the credit scores? FAKOs, FICOs, PLUSs, Vantage... It seems that they are purposely making things complicated. myFICO is a great service and the discussion board is great.
Right now my Discover says it is FICO Transunion, is that correct? Obviously it is only updated monthly and no monitoring.
I'm in the garden anyways. Think I'll regroup and just cancel all my CMS and take a breather. I'm becoming all obsessed about my score now when the best thing I can do is just let it be. Time is the only thing that can really help my score right now as I'm just an OP.
@DaveSignal wrote:yes, I used to use USAA as well. It was a great service for tracking report changes. The USAA scores are Experian PLUS FAKO scores, however.
Generally, any score that is not used by lenders is considered a FAKO. Sometimes these are way off. There are many different models of FICO, too, so you might still run into an instance where the score that a lender pulled is not the same as what you purchased, but at least with FICO scores, some lenders are using the same scoring model and the score is relevant and calculated with similar criteria. FAKO, however, can be all over the place. Sometimes these scores even move in the opposite direction as FICOs when credit report changes occur. Sometimes a FAKO might fluctuate drastically when the FICO shows no change. They aren't calculated using the same scoring factors and the weighting of the factors is different.
The score you get from Discover is a real FICO, TU08, and will exactly match a lender using the TU08 model. This is a good way to monitor your TU scores. If you are rebuilding or for some reason need a way to view regular report changes, there are many CMSes, including USAA, that offer a great service with allowing frequent report updates for a reasonable price. These CMSes should be used for the report retreival service, however, not the FAKO scores that are also included. No lender cares about your FAKO. But with USAA and a Discover card, you have a way to monitor your reports in addition to tracking a score that is currently being used by lenders.
If you wanted to get really into it, you could also find ways to track your other FICOs along with the report updates from the CMS. The best way to get regular EQ FICO updates is with Score Watch. Of course, not everyone needs or cares for this obsessive level of monitoring. But, for people who do want it, the SW + Discover + CMS make a fantastic report + FICO combo. I have actually taken this plan even further by finding a credit union that will give me EX FICO updates.... I collect credit cards and track rewards as a hobby, however, and so having a constant full picture of my credit standing allows me to plan my applications so that I get the best approvals. Clearly, not everyone needs this.