Why do you have to pay to view your credit score?

[Borkil]

As the title suggests, why do you have to pay to view your credit score? I know you can get a free annual one but after that you must fork over money.

 

[nickbits]

Because it is property of private corporations.

 

[NiteWulf]

Because it is property of private corporations.

This. It's private companies selling each other information about you.

 

[spacejamz]

As the title suggests, why do you have to pay to view your credit score? I know you can get a free annual one but after that you must fork over money.

You are entitled to one free credit REPORT each year. This report does NOT contain a FICO score or any of the scores of the 3 credit bureaus.

You can check your credit for free at Credit Karma. It provides a score that should be fairly close to your FICO score.

 

[ultimatebob]

Well... You could always apply for an auto loan or a mortgage.... They'll give you your score if you ask for it when they check your credit.

 

[amdhunter]

As the title suggests, why do you have to pay to view your credit score? I know you can get a free annual one but after that you must fork over money.

That "free" annual one doesn't give you a number. Just a report.

 

[sixone]

You are entitled to one free credit REPORT each year. This report does NOT contain a FICO score or any of the scores of the 3 credit bureaus.

You can check your credit for free at Credit Karma. It provides a score that should be fairly close to your FICO score.

I've used creditkarma.com for a couple of years now. :thumbsup:

 

[UglyCasanova]

Your credit score is something put together by private companies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and is not some government program like a ssn etc. You paying for it is how these companies stay in business.

 

[Svnla]

This thread and threads similar like this are why I think we do need to have basic personal finance to be taught in schools.

 

[bononos]

Well... You could always apply for an auto loan or a mortgage.... They'll give you your score if you ask for it when they check your credit.

It will have a -ve impact on your credit rating, would be small but irritating nonetheless. If you pay $ to check your credit rating online yourself then your credit score will be unchanged.

 

[UglyCasanova]

This thread and threads similar like this are why I think we do need to have basic personal finance to be taught in schools.

I agree. I think that in high school there should be a mandatory 1/2 year of personal finance and 1/2 year of economics taught. Preferably not by coaches.

 

[unokitty]

... why do you have to pay to view your credit score? ....

In the US, you have to pay for your credit information because it does not belong to you.

The three credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion own your credit information. And their business model is to make money by selling your information to others.

Though, under Federal Law you can request a copy of your credit report once every twelve months.

Uno

 

[RossMAN]

I've used creditkarma.com for a couple of years now. :thumbsup:

Another :thumbsup: for creditkarma.com especially since I got it for free :hmm:

What kind of score do they give anyway? My last update was April 9, 2012 currently at 778.

 

[fstime]

AMEX gives you 1 free credit report and score (I believe from only 1 agency) per year.

 

[Baked]

I know all 3 of my scores are above 800, as recent as 6 months ago.

 

[Leros]

You really shouldn't need to look up your credit history more than once a year unless you're monitoring for fraud, which I doubt most people do.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

your report is free. the scores are based on proprietary equations and to get access to that, you need to pay. IMO the score is a waste of money. its just a derivative of your report. if your report is accurate, the score is gonna be what the score is gonna be.

 

[boomhower]

Your credit score is something put together by private companies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and is not some government program like a ssn etc. You paying for it is how these companies stay in business.

The FICO score is owned by Fair Isaac Corp. They buy the info about you from those three companies.

To make matter worse there are multiple variations of the FICO score. For instance the TU score you can buy is based on an outdated TU98 formula. Most lenders are using TU04 and some have moved to the newest TU08. Neither of which you can buy. You can't buy you EX score either. On top of that you have industry enhanced scores like auto enhanced scores. Basically, make sure your report is clean, balances low, and not to many inquiries and then your score will be fine so you don't need to worry about it.

 

[ElFenix]

The FICO score is owned by Fair Isaac Corp.

nuh uh!

 

[tommo123]

i don't know about in the US, but in the UK with the data protection act you can demand (i think) to see any information a company holds about you and they have to correct it if it's wrong

i wonder if instead of paying the normal fee they want if a UK resident could just make a DPA request?

 

[ultimatebob]

Another :thumbsup: for creditkarma.com especially since I got it for free :hmm:

What kind of score do they give anyway? My last update was April 9, 2012 currently at 778.

Creditkarma's "FAKEO" scores seem to be low, though. My real FICO score (830) is a solid 60 points higher than what creditkarma thinks it is (770).

 

[HendrixFan]

Creditkarma's "FAKEO" scores seem to be low, though. My real FICO score (830) is a solid 60 points higher than what creditkarma thinks it is (770).

It is a relative matter. Every scoring model is different, but they all trend in the same direction. You now have a pretty good baseline of how creditkarma scores relative to FICO for you personally. If creditkarma drifts up, your FICO is likely drifting up too. If creditkarma goes down, so will your FICO. And if that happens you should probably pull your free report to see why it is going down.