How To Get Your Free FICO Credit Score And Avoid Fake Credit Offers
I think most people are aware to a certain degree that it’s important to maintain a healthy credit score. To financial institutions, mortgage brokers, landlords, and even employers, it’s a quantifiable measure of your reliability when it comes to money. The formulated number represents your credit worthiness and the degree to which you are able to take on debt. Most banks and lenders utilize your credit score to determine how much interest they must charge you to compensate them for the risk of extending you credit. It impacts everything from applying for a home mortgage loan to getting approved for a routine balance transfer credit card. The lower the score, the higher the risk, and thus the higher the interest rate imposed to compensate for the likelihood of default. Especially during a time that the credit markets are getting battered, it’s more important than ever to know your credit situation. It never hurts to keep tabs on your report, and to find ways to improve your credit score, since you never know when you may need to call upon your good credit. Remember, monitoring your own credit report is not considered a hard credit check, so you don’t have to worry that it will hurt your credit score.
To combat the rise of identity theft and to give people more control over their credit lives, the Fair Credit Reporting Act offers consumers access to one free copy of their credit report every 12 months from each of the nationwide credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This free credit report is available only through the official free credit report website, however, the free annual report does not include a free credit score. That has to be separately obtained by the applicant. But fear not – there are ways to get your credit score for free and inexpensively. If you don’t mind taking advantage of liberal free trial periods or even applying for a credit card offer, then you have options at your disposal.
The FICO Credit Score Is What You Want – All Other Credit Scores Are Impostors
I’m personally obsessed with the FICO score, but that’s because I see it as the most widely adopted and uniform measure of credit worthiness. However, there are numerous types of competing credit scores out there as well. The major credit reporting agencies have all developed their own credit scoring mathematical formulas and tried to push their scoring systems into the marketplace. However, those alternative scores are all currently useless imitations – mere feeble attempts to avoid having to pay royalty fees for using the most established scoring system of them all – the FICO credit score, developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation. The FICO score is comprehensive and takes into consideration your entire credit history, current debt, payment history, account makeup, and all credit related activity. The FICO score that is produced ranges from 300 to 850, with 300 representing the worst credit score imaginable and 850 representing the positive end of the scale. Generally, any FICO score that is 700 or higher is regarded as very good and decent enough to secure favorable terms on credit applications.
Avoid The Fake Credit Scores (Also Known As Fako’s) Such As TransUnion Score, Experian Plus Score, and the VantageScore
The variety of credit scores out there can be rather confusing at times and the credit reporting agencies do their job of making things extra cloudy to trick consumers into buying their brand of credit scores. On top of that, many people seem to confuse FICO scores with FICA’s, which is something else completely. The FICA score is a similar sounding acronym in the world of personal finance that people sometimes confuse with FICO.
Regardless, the FICO credit score is the genuine article and the only one I personally care about when I request my credit report and score. The FICO score can be obtained separately from each of the major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Upon request, each pulls up all of the credit history information they’ve recorded to formulate a number based on the FICO scoring system. But keep in mind, if you request from the wrong place, the score issuer may end up trying to sell you a TransUnion Score, an Experian Plus score, or the jointly developed VantageScore. These alternative scores are similar to the FICO in methodology but their scoring numerations are different. For example, the VantageScore ranges from 501 to 990. It was developed by the three major credit reporting agencies as a competitor to the FICO, but the score is not commonly accepted and remains unproven. Until the VantageScore become more popular and broadly adopted, I recommend that you avoid this particular score, and stick with the FICO. Never blindly assume you are getting a FICO score – always make sure it says FICO, and not just simply “credit score”. You want to request consistent and universal scores over time so that you can compare apples to apples, and not apples to oranges.
The Process Of Obtaining and Finding Out Your Free FICO Credit Score
When you start searching for a way to review your FICO score for free, you will probably come across a lot of online businesses offering you a free score. However, these free scores typically require you to sign up for a particular credit service, usually some type of credit monitoring report that will alert you to any suspicious activity or changes in your credit history file. For those who want to diligently stay on top of their credit scores or anticipate needing credit in the next few months, these services may provide you with worthwhile fraud and credit improvement protection, but they usually also come with a monthly fee. To take advantage of these free trial services for the complimentary period (usually 30 days), you will usually have to give the company your credit card number upfront before you can view your FICO score. I’ve personally obtained my FICO score for free before with no problem by signing up for free trial offers, and canceling the service before the end of the trial period to avoid getting billed. It’s not that difficult – just make sure you cancel in time. Sometimes the companies make it a little harder for you to cancel by requiring the account to stay active for a few weeks, or require that you use their slow customer service phone number instead of canceling online, but there will always be a way to cancel before the trial deadline is up.
There are plenty of companies out there that purport to offer free FICO credit monitoring or credit score viewing trial periods, but I recommend that you stick with the more established sites such as MyFICO (for more information, please read the MyFICO Review). This is to avoid stumbling onto scam sites or falling prey to dishonest companies. You want to be extra careful because you will be handing over your social security number, name, and address to verify your identity. As for those who have a ethical problem with signing up for a service with the expectation of canceling, you may wish to refrain. As for me, I have an interesting track record of taking advantage of great store return policies, so this is nothing new to me. Apart from the free myFICO credit score offers listed below, if you are interested in checking or tracking your FICO for the long term, I highly recommend that you utilize myFICO promo codes for maximized discount savings.
Here Are My Recommended Ways To Get Your FICO Credit Score For Free (Or At An Affordable Low Cost):
1) Washington Mutual ESPN Credit Card – Free Monthly FICO Credit Score (TransUnion) – Washington Mutual bank credit cards currently offer free continuous monthly online access to your FICO credit score through TransUnion. Your credit score is automatically updated on your WaMu online account each month for free. With the ESPN Total Access Wamu credit card offer, you can also earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases from ESPN and 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else. The card is also offering a 0% APR rate for both balance transfers and purchases, with no balance transfer fee. Not a bad credit card to have even if you only keep it for the credit score perk. Keep in mind that because the score is only from one agency, the FICO score may be slightly different from what you might receive from other reporting agencies – but that’s normal.
2) MyFICO Score Watch – Free 30 Day Trial Period (Equifax) - If getting a free monthly FICO credit score with your Washington Mutual card is not an option for you, you may try to take advantage of MyFICO’s free credit trial periods. The biggest advantage is that all credit scores you order from MyFICO are all genuine FICO’s. With the 30 Day Free MyFICO Score Watch, you get an Equifax credit report and corresponding FICO score for $8.95 per month. There is a 30 day free trial available. If you forget to cancel within 30 days, there is an annual payment of $89.95. Don’t forget!
3) Equifax Credit Watch Gold 3-In-1 Monitoring With Score Power - Free 30 Day Trial Period (Equifax) – This deal offers you a free 30 day trial period. If you choose not to cancel after the free trial, you will be billed $14.95 a month. With this offer you will receive your free FICO score from Equifax and a one time 3-in-1 credit report from all three credit agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, as well as unlimited access to Equifax credit reports. Don’t forget to cancel if that’s what you were planning to do!
4) MyFICO Quarterly Monitoring - $4.95 A Month (TransUnion) – If you’ve used up the above options, you may want to consider the MyFICO Quarterly Monitoring package. You can cancel after the first month, but for this one you’ll have to pay the small monthly fee. With this package you get a TransUnion credit report and a genuine FICO score provided by TransUnion every 3 months. The cost is $4.95 a month, but if you cancel within the first month, your only cost is only $4.95. Still pretty affordable if you ask me. If you want quarterly tracking for a year, it’s also available for one annual payment of $49.95.
5) TransUnion CS 3-In-1 Credit Report With FICO - $34.95 For One FICO Score From TransUnion and All 3 Reports (All 3 – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) – This offer provides you all three credit reports from all three major credit reporting agencies, but it only provides you one FICO credit score from TransUnion. There is no trial period. As I’ll explain later below, TransUnion Consumer Solutions offers genuine FICO scores, unlike its evil twin sibling, TransUnion.com.
6) MyFICO Standard Score and Report - $15.95 For One FICO and One Report (Choice Of One – Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion) – With the FICO Standard product from MYFICO, you can choose an individual FICO credit score and credit report from one of the big three reporting agencies – Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. The above options are cheaper choices for Equifax and TransUnion but this option is the cheapest FICO option for Experian.
7) MyFICO Credit Complete – $47.85 For All 3 Credit Reports And All 3 FICO Credit Scores (All 3 – Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) – If you want to know your complete credit status, you will need a service like MyFICO’s Credit Complete. There is a one time $47.85 fee or an annual purchase subscription of $42.84 (you can always cancel to stop the automatic annual repurchase). Unfortunately there is no free offer, but this is the genuine FICO deal if you want your complete credit information from all three agencies. If you are looking to buy a house or something major, you may want to order this at least once.
8) Suze Orman’s MyFICO Platinum Kit - $49.95 (Same Deal As MyFICO Credit Complete) – If you love financial guru Suze Orman and want to make her rich, you can always go with this option. Of course, keep in mind that this is the same as the MYFICO Credit Complete offer in that they both provide you 3 FICO credit scores and 3 credit reports from the major credit reporting agencies. The interesting catch is that Suze’s Kit is slightly more expensive at $49.95. If you idolize her financial prowess and want to use her endorsed product, then go right ahead. However, I don’t particularly recommend it over the other cheaper options. No offense, Suze.
Credit Score and Credit Report Programs To Avoid Like The Plague:
1) FreeCreditReport.Com – This site is the biggest advertiser on television for credit report services and it’s also the most misleading. Calling it a complete credit scam may be a bit much, but its deceptive domain name certainly doesn’t help its cause. Do not confuse this site with the official annual credit report site. The company does provide you 3 credit reports from all major credit reporting agencies, but it does not provide you a FICO credit score. The site offers its own proprietary PLUS score, not FICO. You should avoid FreeCreditReport.com, lest you end up with an unproven FAKO score that will do you little good when it comes time to compare the score to FICO based loan charts.
2) TransUnion.com – TransUnion does a wonderful job of confusing consumers. You should never order anything directly from TransUnion.com since they only provide you something called a TransRisk credit score, which is not the same as a FICO credit score. If you want your FICO score from TransUnion, you need to visit the sister site: Transunioncs.com, which stands for TransUnion Consumer Solutions, or you can always order your TransUnion scores via MyFICO. Why the company chose to make things so confusing for consumers is a wonderful question for which I haven’t the foggiest clue.
3) TrueCredit.com – This site utilizes the TransRisk scoring system as well. While similar to the FICO, it is not the same.
4) PrivacyMatters.com – Yet another site that utilizes the TransUnion TransRisk credit score. Remember, if the site does not proudly advertise its scores as FICO, but merely refers to them as “credit scores”, then it’s not offering the real McCoy. If you want a genuine FICO, look elsewhere.
5) Experian.com – Experian offers a Triple Advantage 3-in-1 credit report and credit score product from its website, but you should avoid it. The score it provides you is its own PLUS credit score, and not the FICO score you want. You should also avoid any of its one time non subscription products as well. Back when all of the credit agencies and Fair Isaac played well together, consumers were able to obtain their 3 FICO scores from each of the 3 major credit report bureaus. However, major contractual disputes eventually led Experian to pull out of its long standing credit score arrangement with MyFICO. Thus while Equifax and TransUnion FICO scores are still presently available to credit score seekers, consumers can no longer get access to their Experian FICO scores directly from the MyFICO website at this time. There are still limited ways to get an Experian FICO score, but the methods aren’t easy or widely available.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I’d agree on the Experian service… I had that one for a while… watched my credit score on it…
When we actually had to run our credit for a mortgage application, our FICO was pleasantly higher.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Thank you for this fantastic information. It is important to stay on top of your FICO score, not just your credit score.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Very sharp, complete and useful information with which I feel confortable and that confirms my personnal synthetis after numerous searches done from the last months…
Congratulations & thanks for those enlightments
May 30th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Interseting!
Thanks for your time and for sharing your work!
June 25th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Thanks for the post! I never knew Washington Mutual bank credit cards offered the free credit score account benefit.
Is the ESPN Total Access card from WaMu the only free fico score offer that they have? Even so..like you said, the ESPN WaMu card itself isn’t bad to keep around just for free credit score sake, but too bad it doesn’t offer more in the way of cash back rebate opportunities aside from rebates from ESPN
July 8th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Thanks so much for this. You saved me about $10. I think it’s a shame that they make this so confusing. At 1st I thought there is just 1 FICO score per person but in reality I realize now that you can have up to 3, 1 from each company. I ended up trying the $4.95/month plan at myfico; the report and monitoring service is actually quite cool. I will not be keeping it of course. Thanks again for your time!
July 8th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Dimitri,
You’re welcome! Yes, the whole credit score business can be rather confusing at times. Not only do each of the big three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) generate their own FICO scores using the methodology developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, they also generate their own personal credit scoring variations as well. Motivated by business reasons, they aim to push their own scoring systems into the market.
Stick with the FICO for now and you’ll be okay. Maybe the other scoring systems will become more widely accepted years down the road, but until that time arrives, stay clear of them, lest you get confused.
I personally use the MyFICO Score Watch as well. It’s not too expensive and I get a regularly updated chart of my credit score progression. This visual FICO chart tool helps a lot for balance transfer credit card arbitrage gamers like myself who want to know the actual point effects that carrying large credit balances have on overall FICO ratings.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:32 am
Thank you for saving me money and educating me…..
August 21st, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Equifax no longer offers a free trial for “Equifax Credit Watch Gold 3-In-1 Monitoring With Score Power” I have made frequent use of them in the past, but now they are gone. Following the link you provide and signing up leads to a “No Products” error and a request to call Equifax. I called and instead they offered me:
- Equifax Score Watch 30 day free trial
- Equifax Gold Credit Watch (on Equifax file ony)
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:07 am
Leo,
Strange…I tried the Equifax Credit Watch Gold 3 In 1 Monitoring link and it’s working fine..
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 am
The link works, but when I went through the identification process and gave a credit card, I got the “No Product” error and the request to call. When I called they wouldn’t give me a free trial for Equifax Credit Watch Gold 3 In 1.
Maybe the website message was that they wanted more Identification info. But they wouldn’t give me that trial on the phone either. And the trial doesn’t appear on their website (unless you use the link you gave).
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:33 am
Or maybe the website just didn’t like my credit card, which the phone operator didn’t like either. I had to give them a different card to get anything done.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Also note that you can use discount coupon codes to significantly reduce the cost of these services. Just google something like ‘myFICO.com promotional promo code’ to get discounts of 5-25% before ordering.
October 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I’m a little confused, but specifically wonder if you know anything about http://www.creditkarma.com/ ??
Also, when you said, “Do not confuse this site with the official annual credit report site” is this is “official” site to which you were referring? http://www.annualcreditreport.com.
This is the one I have used in the past.
I just tried creditkarma.com which gave me a score of 763 which is down from where I was last year, but I did just sign up (in the past month) for five new credit cards and an increase to another (balance transferring). My husband who is building credit, scored 666, which I guess is better than where it was at the beginning of the year when they didn’t know who he even was. Thanks in advance.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:19 am
Mrs. Accountability,
Credit Karma uses its own unique credit scoring system. While it’s interesting for comparison purposes, it doesn’t offer the same scoring methodology as the most popular credit scoring system – the FICO credit score from Fair Isaac. I personally prefer to stick with the most popular scoring number whenever possible. Other scoring systems serve only to confuse and give credit seekers inaccurate appraisals of their current credit situation.
And yes, Annual Credit Report is the official site to get your free annual credit report as mandated by the federal government.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Raymond, thank you for your quick response! This is a very informative post, I have bookmarked it for future reference. Thanks again.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Hi Leo,
will “MyFICO Credit Complete” count as a hard inquiry on my record?
if yes, how would it affect my score?
Will it aper at all? Is there such thing as a soft inquiry?
thank you very much.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
interested in not getting scamed
on no fico credit cards, r they real
advise
or call 216 472 #### (Deleted By Editor)
December 15th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
WAMU FICO Score Warning!
The TransUnion FICO score that WAMU provides with it’s credit cards is not a “true”
FICO score. It is a “credit card score” (explanation provided on the WAMU site) that
approximates a true FICO score but is generally higher. You can check your WAMU
“FICO” score on day and then pull a true FICO score from TransUnion the next day and the TransUnion FICO score will be 20-40 points lower. I’ve done this four times with the same results each time.
December 21st, 2008 at 9:27 am
Good post. You should know that the credit score you get online can vary significantly from what a lender might see when they pull your credit. I used to work for a credit reporting agency in past that provided reports from the three bureaus to the mortgage industry and scores on those reports were generally lower than those a consumer would get online. This is because there are different scoring models which weigh scoring factors differently from consumer reports.
The single best thing you can do to improve your credit score is to keep your credit card balances within 30% of your overall credit limit.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I just signed up at myfico.com, selected the 30 day trial for Trial Watch, got my score, searched for cancel in their search window, hit the link provided, and canceled – all in under a 2 minutes!
January 20th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
The WaMu free FICO score is disappearing as of March 1st, according to my WaMu statement. It’s a shame because that’s one of the reasons I got the card in the first place.
Banks Merge/Get bought out – You Lose!
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:16 pm
do try myfico.com – easy access and fast – lots of good stuff there after you get your number and easy to cancel within the 30 days.
January 27th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Very dissapointed about Wamu going to Chase and Chase offering a non Fico score and a small fee… I had wamu because of the free truly free monthly fico score… In the 15 months I had the card my score increased by 95 points!
January 28th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Unfortunately, the free FICO monitoring will no longer be available as of March 1st 2009 as per WaMu being bought out by Chase… just another reason to stop using credit.
‘Your credit card online account access is moving
Dear WAYNE MCALISTER,
Now that WaMu is becoming Chase, online access to your credit card account will be moving to Chase OnlineSM effective March 9, 2009. You’ll have access to many of the services currently available at wamucards.com (or wamu.com if you usually access your credit card account through that site) including credit card account management, online payments and email alerts.
After the move, you’ll have the convenience of exciting new features including:
Online Statements and Paperless Statements
Mobile Banking
Online enrollment in AutoPay
Management of employee spending limits plus online access for employees
(for Business card customers)
However, please note that your free FICO® credit score will no longer be displayed, and only 3 months of transaction history will be available online. If you wish to access your historical transaction information currently available online, you will need to save, download, or print it by March 1, 2009.
As we move your account to Chase.com, online access will be unavailable from
March 4-8, 2009. If you’d planned to make payments online at our site during that time, please make arrangements to log in prior to that period to ensure that your payment reaches us by the due date on your statement.’
Just and FYI
January 28th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Very sad to see that Chase will be ditching the FICO credit score feature. I see many wamu customers losing their loyalty. Personally, I think it should always be free and at our fingertips at a moments notice.
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:25 am
Washington Mutual has now canceled the free FICO. Well, they didn’t but Wells Fargo did with the buyout. You will still be able to see it for a very short period of time. That blows, because that was the ONLY reason I used their credit card.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:50 am
I too am upset that I am loosing the ability to see my FICO score with my WAMU credit card. Actually it was Providian before WAMU took them over. Now that Chase has taken over WAMU we are not going to get that great of service it appears. I have written WAMU-Chase and asked them to keep the free FICO score ability. Everyone should make their vioce heard maybe they will listen. Maybe…
February 17th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Washington Mutual Credit Card no longer gives free FICO as of March 1st 2009 …just lost me as a 800+ customer – I’m will be gone
February 19th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Thank you so much!!!
We are very grateful for your information. We have just applied for 30 day free trial Score Watch and with the Fico score, we successfully negotiated for our auto loan in very very low rate. And we were wondering how we would like to keep up with the score . . . in which FICO products ???. . . you made this process easy
))
All The Best, Leisei & Michael
February 24th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
As of March 6th, 2009 Wamu will be completely absorbed by Chase and the ESPN card with the free monthly credit check will no longer be available. I found this out after contacting Wamu customer service when I couldn’t find a link in your article. But great article. I totally agree with your assesment of Transunion. It’s rediculous. The other two companies aren’t much better. Welcome to the credit management game!!!!
March 5th, 2009 at 7:08 am
I too have the Wamu card because of the free Fico Score…I raised my credit over the years by paying my entire balances off every month and adding $10.00 each month over and above. I was a no brainer and watching my fico score climb like that gave me the encouragement to do it……what a drag that Chase isn’t going to keep that service. Has anyone checked to see if there is any other credit card offering the same Fico service? I’d like to know, JW
March 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
The best part of my WaMu card was the FICO perk, however since selling to Chase and changing on March 9th 2009 this feature is no longer available. The search for the FICO score continues……………
April 1st, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I called WAMU and talked with a supervisor to tell them they lost me as a long time 830 customer. The interest rate sucked anyway, but it was worth it for the FICO score. Whoever picks it up gets my business back.
April 18th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I am a WaMu card holder and I just wanted to update anyone reading this. WaMu was recently purchase/bought out by Chase (which I also have) and the score is no longer provided.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I have a WaMu (formally Providian) card. The monthly fico score was very helpful. Unfortunately, they have stopped this service now that they have become Chase.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:53 am
2 thoughts:
Do you have to pay twice for FICO scores for husband / wife since both parties credit affects getting a loan?
Why aren’t all of us INFURIATED AND FIGHTING these insane laws that require us to pay for something that we should be able to get daily for free? Everyone should write Washington to get these laws changed.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:49 am
how can people like me who can’t even afford 5 dollars a month to watch their credit get their credit score?
April 30th, 2009 at 11:51 am
i agree 100% with what christy lied said! why should we have to pay for something that is already ours?!
May 1st, 2009 at 5:10 am
Christy Lied and Stacie,
Well, technically FICO credit scores are not something that’s really ours per se. Credit scores are industry generated custom numbers based on available credit report data. The government has indicated that we are certainly entitled to all of the information recorded on our individual credit reports (that part is ours) – hence the new laws that grant us annual access to our free credit reports, however they have not given us access to these credit score variations.
I’m not sure if it’s perfectly analogous, but it would be like us arguing that we should be entitled to our high school SAT or college/graduate GMAT test scores for free because they are essential factors in determining our educational futures. Those scores were generated by private companies and access to them are only offered to paying customers. Likewise with the FICO credit score and other credit score variations like the Vantage
May 4th, 2009 at 3:40 am
MyFICO is the ONLY way to get your real free FICO. While the scores offered are not entirely free without cost or hitch as they require enrollment into a free credit score monitoring offer, they are free in the sense that if you cancel in time (within 30 days usually), you can really indeed walk away with your genuine free FICO credit score. All of the other sites that claim to provide free FICO scores are not worth their weight in crap.
I don’t understand why some personal finance bloggers (bargaineering and perhaps a few others) out there are intentionally or perhaps ignorantly misleading readers by pushing them to sign up for services like FreeCreditReport.com, Privacy Matters 123, or CreditCheckTotal.com and titling the article “Free FICO Credit Score” when they ought to know that these affiliate websites clearly do not offer the real FICO?! Do PF bloggers not know what they are writing about or is it just a sales pitch for them??
Shame on them! But honestly, I didn’t want to post comments on those sites and complain for fear of being blacklisted from future comments on those blogs. I’ve already been blacklisted from one of those financial blogs already for writing something the author did not approve of. But yeah…so much online misinformation these days abounds and it sickens me. Thanks for letting me vent. I feel better now..
May 4th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
MyFICO Quarterly Monitoring link currently isn’t working. So you may be losing affiliate money. Don’t know if it is a temporary thing or not.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:57 am
The My FICO credit score link – quarterly monitoring link worked for me… are you in some different part of the world where the links are blocked maybe?
But thanks…I got my free FICO score! 725 – not a bad credit score I think. Is this high enough to apply for and get the best home mortgage interest rates? Been thinking of purchasing a new home. Not sure what I can do to raise my FICO credit scores at this point though. I don’t really have high credit card balances and always pay my monthly bill minimum.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
This is a long winded us-less site!!! This is a plug for companies wanting you to pay for a free services you should be able to find easily! You are as helpful as all the other places that want my credit card numbers before they give me my score! What is the official web site? The real place that controls your credit will give you an acutely free report once pr year if you can ever find it! Im 24, and I already know that crap! Give us something useful so we don’t have to google this for six hours to find the right place. I hope the places you plugged payed you for your advertisement!
May 6th, 2009 at 2:46 am
Rebecca,
I agree, this blog post is rather long winded…hehe…sorry I tend to write a lot. But I disagree that its contents are entirely useless.
Nothing in this world is ever entirely free – and there is a usually a catch to most freebie type offers. Unfortunately, while free credit reports can be obtained for free via official government encouraged channels (annualcreditreport.com), your free credit score, or free FICO score cannot be obtained in the same manner. Credit scores are not free in the same sense that you are automatically entitled to receive them once a year the same way your annual credit reports are.
There are ways to obtain your scores for free however, but they’ll require you be willing to take advantage of contractual loopholes in various credit score monitoring promotional programs. Many credit score companies such as Equifax or MyFICO offer free trial periods for various credit monitoring products. So long as you sign up for the online products and cancel in time, you can indeed walk away with a genuinely free FICO credit score. The only catch is that you ABSOLUTELY MUST cancel in time within the required free trial period. Yes you must provide a working credit card number as a security down payment of sorts, but the credit card number is never charged if you cancel the trial offer in time. I’ve received multiple free FICO credit scores via this sign up/cancellation method and have never paid out a single cent for my scores.
The places I plug, as you indicate, are the only legitimate offers out there who indeed provide free trial offers that can lead to free FICO scores.
May 16th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Hi,
Thank you for the vast information. It was truly helpful. I have not check my credit in years and have found some discrepancies which I will now dispute.
I do only have problem. I am not able to get my FICO score for Experian. Unfortunately, Experian has discontinued its agreement with myFico. Is there any other website or product site where I can get my FICO score for Experian (at a reasonable price)? Thanks for your help.
May 16th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Ruth,
I did a write up of ways to get a Free Experian FICO score. As the mentioned blog article notes, Experian had a major falling out with the creator and owner of the FICO score formula. Thus, at the present time, Experian is no longer permitting its credit report data to be used for consumer FICO score generation purposes. However, pre-existing Experian FICO score agreements and contracts remain in effect, allowing a limited number of consumers today to still get access to their Experian FICO credit scores.
One nearly guaranteed way to get your Experian FICO score is to obviously apply for a home mortgage. Business institutions and major bank lenders still get access to Experian FICO scores and are still able to pull the Experian FICO’s for you. However, bear in mind, applying for a home mortgage constitutes a credit score harming hard credit check. Applying for a home mortgage just to get a peek at your Experian FICO score isn’t the wisest option to take due to the negative credit score effect. The credit report and credit score hits aren’t very significant, but it’s still not a good idea to make it a common practice. However, it’s probably one of the only few widely available options remaining today for Experian FICO seekers. Yes I know – this sucks.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
OK, so there is another credit card company offering a FREE monthy FICO credit report with no strings attached. It is from HSBC and it is called the Sears Solutions Card. You CANNOT apply for this card through HSBC, you have to walk into KMART or Sears and apply for the card.
Here’s the tricky part -If you have good or great credit, you will not get this card. Sears/KMART run your credit wtih a Citibank card first. If your credit is FAIR and you fail to get the Citibank Card, then they do a second chance application to HSBC.
So bottom line is the only way to get this card would be if Citibank is going to turn you down. Then they will run you credit application though HSBC which is the card you want to get if you want free credit monitoring. Hope this helps! If someone can figure out a way for somebody with good credit to still get the HSBC card, please post because I can’t get the card since my credit is fine.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Brian in MA,
I have heard about the HSBC Sears Solutions Card before, but the walk in application process seems rather bizarre. Get denied if you have excellent credit but approved if it’s merely fair… That seems so uniquely odd IMO.
I hope someone who has actually applied for the Sears Solution card and has actually gotten approved will shed some light on the matter. This credit card offer may be the next savior card for FICO credit score nuts like us now that the Washington Mutual free FICO card is gone. However, it will be good to get more information and real world commentary before we all go running to our nearest KMART or Sears store and start applying for this card offer.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Raymond,
My girlfriend has fair credit (score 650) and applied for the Sears card in April 2009. She received a Sears Solutions Card from HSBC. It is a MasterCard that you can use anywhere, but it has a Sears logo on it.
When she registered the card, she was able to sign up for a monthly free FICO score (which she’s been using and has watched her score go to 688). I was a Washington Mutual cardholder and was impressed that the same feature that we lost in May was available on this card… So guess where I went?? Sears of course!
When I walked into Sears I asked the associate to apply for the card and when I looked at the application is had a Citibank logo on it, so I asked for the HSBC application. She told me the only way to get the HSBC Sears Solutions card was if Citibank turned me down.
So I declined to sign up because I knew I would get approved for the Citibank card. I then decided to ask my girlfriend for the Customer Service number from her HSBC card and tried to apply directly to HSBC- but no dice!
So the only thing at this point that I can think of doing is contacting Citibank and putting a “credit freeze” on my SSN# and walking into Sears and applying for this card.
So does anyone know if it is possible to do this? Have a bank freeze credit acceptance on your SSN so you cannot get credit through that particular bank?
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Raymond and Brian in MA,
I’m going to look into getting this Sears Card From HSBC…ever since Washington Mutual went kaput and the ESPN Wamu card that offered free FICO credit scores disappeared with the acquisition by Chase Bank, I’ve been unable to find a comparable free credit score solution. But this Sears card looks interesting. But from the looks of things, it may be very difficult to apply and qualify for. Hopefuly, but not too optimistic on this….
So far, I’ve been using myFICO’s credit score watch program. The fee is pretty good and I really, really like the service. Best part is how they chart out FICO score changes over time and archives it for me to look back on in aggregate. It’s a neat way to see how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go. It’s interesting to see how repaying back your 0% balance transfer cards from one’s app-o-rama days REALLY jacks up your FICO number.
May 25th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Does anyone know of any bank or credit union other than this PSECU (Pennsylvania state credit union) that offers free FICO credit scores for customers? I’m not looking for a free credit monitoring service like myfico.com, but looking for a bank or credit union that offers customers FREE Credit Scores (specifically real free FICO scores) every month or continuously. If any one knows of any such banks, do you also know which credit rating agency the FICO credit scores are pulled from? – whether they be Equifax, Transunion, or Experian. Experian FICO scores are super rare right now for consumers and it would be great to know of any place that still offers Experian FICO’s….especially for free. Much appreciated for anyone’s help!
May 27th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I too used to be a WaMu customer and Loved my free FICO credit score and hated that it is now gone. I wrote to my Elected officals today about this very topic. See the article below for more information if you’re interested about how you can contact your elected officals to demand we get some satisfaction from Washington from them. We should know what the credit card companies know about us. Why should we have to pay to know what your scores are? That’s alot of bull if you ask me and I told my Elected Officals so too. (view link to MSN Money Central article)
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Does anyone know if this 3 Free Triple Credit Score scam thing is actually a fraud or is it legitimate? I get conflicting replies when I ask around. Some say it’s a scam and that they don’t actually give you the real fico credit score. If they don’t really give you a genuine fico score, then what the heck do they give out then and why hasn’t the local state attorney general’s office cracked down on these scams for false advertising?? Something seems fishy!
June 6th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Since WAMU credit has now changed to Chase, I no longer get free FICO scores and I miss this very much!
Linda
June 7th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
This is a great site. I’ve referenced it for the past year when seeking out FICO sources. I stumbled upon the WAMU card by accident a while back and had to get my wife one once I found out that it was about the only truly free source of a FICO score, even if it’s not completely accurate.
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to the author(s) here. When you get a chance, could you update the WAMU part of the article, since it no longer applies?
June 10th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
The free FICO scores that WAMU offered was a great tool I used frequently. I was also very disappointed when they switched to Chase and it was no longer offered. Monitoring my FICO on WAMU was what got me into watching my money and credit tighter. I really miss this feature and wish some other card would offer it as a bonus!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I get my free ficos core through my credit union here in Pennsylvania. I think it’s even an Experian fico which is supposedly in hot demand right now since they don’t issue them publicly anymore. Getting your credit score from myfico’s trial offers is a great idea though – a form of aggressive deal seeking. I like it!
July 19th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Please inform me of any one offering totally free fico credit scores. Thanking You, I am:
Richard A. Kraft
855 W. Aldine Ave. – 1603
Chicago, IL 60657-2370
richardakraft@sbcglobal.net
July 27th, 2009 at 3:11 am
I MISS WAMU!!! Free FICO scores! Now CHASE discontinued the service.
I HATE THE CREDIT REPORTING SYSTEM!!! WHY AM I PAYING FOR MY OWN INFORMATION!!! AND WHY SO COSTLY?!!
July 30th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
So what is a good credit score? I have a 710 FICO credit score. Is that considered a good credit score for credit card application and even home mortgage application purposes? I’m not just talking about mere approval…but qualifying for the prime top interest rates for loans. I’ve heard that due to the economy and the way the financial markets are now…it’s harder than before to qualify for anything to do with credit. In the olden days you could count on a 700’s FICO score to take you places…but nowadays, you almost need a high 700’s or even in the 800’s for the best rates.
August 4th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
When I last checked my FICO it was in January this year(2009). At that point it was 828 and that was done thru WAMU.They have not offered these free credit reports nor a free FICO score. What do you suggest for me ? I got tied into one of those “offers” through one of the reporting agencies and I’ll bet it took me 6 months to get rid of them regardless of how many times I told them to STOP! And of course they continued to charge all the while. Getting away from them is much like cancelling AOL@. And Verizon is just like AOL! I would rather pay someone $15 and get it over with than having to put up with one of these companies. Is there any way to do this? Thanks,
Helen
August 4th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Oops forgot something – - -WAMU discontinued this service March 1,2009
August 8th, 2009 at 10:37 am
WAMU used to offer it for free but since they switched to Chase, it’s $7.95 a month. I hate Chase.
August 9th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I wish I would have read this a couple of weeks ago. I went thru a divorce earlier this year and would like to purchase a home. I am just a few points lower than the minimum requirement with the bank I want to go through. I wanted to watch the lowest score to see when I got above the limit (as there are lots of incorrect data on my report right now). I ended up signing up for each agencies site and got 2 fake scores and a real FICO.
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:11 pm
How often can I sign up for the free trial period with MyFico? Or is that a one time only offer?
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Hey,
Who asked these three companies to keep track of my personal information any way?
I know it wasn’t me. I know it wasn’t the government.
And they want to “CHARGE ME A FEE” to purchase my own personal information, because they decided to create a “FICO” scoring system. This is bull.
PLUS, They can’t even enter the right data. There are always problems and type-o’s on these reports.
This is just so un-american I say.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Is there a way to pay for unlimited FICO scores? I need to do some serious short term repairs and want to watch the score as I make the changes.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Ron- There are banks out there that offer unlimited FICO credit scores for their banking customers. I recall some Pennsylvania credit union that offered its account holders free and unlimited access to their FICO scores. However, the scores were not updated everyday – just once a month.
On another note, why would you need your FICO score to do home repairs? Thinking of getting a loan?
October 6th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Serious short term repairs to my credit score. I am paying down all my debt and cleaning up some incorrect items on my report in order to get a mortgage. I have found a house and I need to know when my score is high enough to get the financing to buy it. It’s a race to see if I can clean things up before it is sold.
Any idea what time of the month that the scores are updated?
October 6th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Something is not right. I went to Wells Fargo and they ran my credit report on 9/25/09 and then I signed up for the free 30 days on Equifax (#3 on the list) and the score I got form the website was 50 points higher. Both should be my FICO scores, and if they only update once a month, how can they be 50 points of difference??
October 10th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Ron:
Your Fico score from Transunion vs Equifax can be 50 points in difference, ask the bank what credit reporting agency they are using vs your source. If they are the same source then it could be that the bank is getting their number in the beginning of the month and ou are getting your report at the end of the month (if that is the case, then it shuold go up next month at your bank 50 points).
Others on this board check the Sears solutions card by HSBC – it offers a free FICO score every month. Good alternative to the old Washington Mutual card we all lost out on.