Credit Score Tools

Last time I wrote about how I got started on a credit score. To follow it up, here are the 4 best tools I have come across for finding out your credit report and credit score. If you know of any other and better tools, do tell.

1.       Credit Bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Transunion, myfico.com) – The most accurate way of getting your credit report and credit score, is directly from the credit bureaus. You can go online to the website of these credit bureaus or to myfico.com and order your score. From what I understand, you are entitled to one free credit report from each bureau every year. But that report doesn’t include your score. The score you need to buy. But the report is a great place to start and make sure that all the information is correct. And if you need more than one report in a year from the same bureau, there is a way for that too. If you apply for a credit card, the bank will send you a letter with your credit score and the bureau they used for getting your score. You are allowed to call them within 60 days and demand the credit report. This I believe is over and above your own annual entitlement of the credit report. If there is anything on the report that you think is wrong, you can contact the credit bureau and get it rectified. Also, myfico.com has a free 10 day trial. So you can get your score for free one time and then cancel, if you don’t want to continue the subscription. The subscription is $14.95/month.

2.       Creditkarma.com and creditsesame.com – These are your true blue FREE credit report website. They will give you your score and your credit report online for free. Creditkarma pulls its details from Transunion, while Creditsesame uses Experian. Take the scores here with a pinch of salt, as these websites use own scoring mechanism to build the score. But it’s a great indicator of what your actual score might be.

3.       Creditsecure.com – If you have an American express account then you can access creditsecure.com and have your credit score form all three bureaus. Its $ 14.99 per month, but it also comes with a trial for $ 1 for first 30 days. If you want, you can get your score one time and then cancel the subscription, if you don’t want to continue after 30 days.

4.       Freecreditscore.com – Another website that offer to get you all 3 bureau score for $29.95 per month. But again, there is a free trail for $0 for first 7 days. Haven’t got any reviews on this website yet. If anyone does, do share.