What's a good website to check my credit score?
Asked by
partyrock (
3870)
February 20th, 2012
What are some good, reliable websites I can see my credit score, free or not free ? Thanks!
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7 Answers
Unfortunately all my results are for in Canada, but this may have an american version.
There’s a difference between credit score and credit report. The website mentioned by @AshlynM will get you free credit reports from each of the 3 main credit-reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. You are entitled to one free credit report from each of the agencies once a year. So, a common recommendation is to order one report from one of the agencies every 4 months. That is, you stagger the reports.
Credit score, on the other hand, is altogether a different animal. The most popular one is the FICO score, which ranges from 300 to 850. Anything above 740 is considered excellent. Anything below 680, not so good. For the FICO score, however, you usually have to pay. Costs between $13 to $24 depending on where you get it from. The big 3 credit reporting agencies will sell it to you. But be careful that you specifically ask for the FICO score. They also sell their own scores, which I’ve found to be useless as very few lenders use those.
There are other places that will sell you the FICO score, including the FICO site itself.
The site www.freecreditreport.com at one time had a bad reputation for installing spyware and other malware on your computer. I don’t know if that’s still the case, but be careful. The site that @AshlynM gives is safe.
I have recently used FreeCreditScore.com without issue. They all try to hook you in to a subscription.
On a different topic related to Credit Reports as some have listed, you are entitled to get the 3 bureau reports free each year. I have used annualcreditreport.com with good success.
I have used Privacy Guard for years. I download my credit scores and data about every 6 months.
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